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spidermans-l-o-v-e-r · 3 days ago

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The Polar Express, 2004

Pairing: Buck x Reader

Word count: 3k

Notes: I don’t think you understand the phone shit I’m going through right now, especially with how I only write on my phone it hurts my FEELINGS so yeah this is not edited and I’ve done my best okay I literally am currently finishing it as I’m typing this

Buck stands at the counter, tapping his fingers against the smooth marble.

“Okay… the cookies are in, the bread is proofing, the cake is cooling, the scones have another 10 or so minutes until they’re ready to be iced…”

He scrolls on his iPad, reading through all his notes and recipes. He was stressed, incredibly stressed, he’d hesitantly asked Athena two weeks ago if he could host Secret Santa and then they’d all migrate over to her place for dinner and presents.

She graciously agreed, it gave her more time to get everything ready and less to stress about on Christmas Day. But now here he is, at one in the morning, the kitchen is a disaster zone that he’s disappointed in because he always cleans as he goes, the cookies aren’t going to have anywhere to cool if he doesn’t get cleaning and he hasn’t even started on buttercream.

Why the hell he thought this was a good idea he doesn’t freaking know, he doesn’t know why he volunteered, he doesn’t know why he put himself through this he doesn’t know why the bag of powdered sugar is on the floor, he doesn’t-

He jumps a little, he hadn’t even heard you pad softly down the stairs, he hadn’t heard you trying to get his attention. It’s like everything just stops as soon as you put your arms around his waist, your hands coming to rest on his chest.

“Buck? You in there?” You ask quietly, you sound sleepy. He takes a deep breath and turns in your arms

“Hey baby” He smiles softly, leaning down to kiss your nose “Did I wake you?”

“Nah, kinda woke up on my own” You rest your chin on his chest, blinking sleepily “You okay?”

“I’m fine, really”

You pull back a little, giving him a skeptical look. His disheveled appearance screams anything but fine. The mess around the kitchen is a little cry for help to sort through the mess that is his anxiety right now.

He just wanted everyone to be proud.

You pull away from him and go over to the little hooks in the corner, grabbing your small pink apron and tying it around you. You grab the matching pink scrunchie with it and pull your hair back.

“What do you need from me, Chef?”

“It would be a big help if you helped me clean up a bit? Maybe watched the cookie timer? And then helped me dip the scones when they’re ready and-“

You come over to the counter and start collecting everything and moving it to the sink, you stand on your toes as you pass and he bends down to peck your lips

“One at a time baby boy,” You tell him calmly “We can handle this”

He melts as you kick your stool in front of the sink and dump everything in to start washing. He always made fun of you for it, but it was easier to rinse from higher up okay.

He sits back for a moment, watching you clean the dishes without any complaining, just…getting straight to work to help him out. He comes over and wraps his arms around your waist, burying his face in the back of your neck

“I love you, so fucking much” He mumbles and you smile, leaning into him a little

“I love you too, you’re doing really good Buck. They’re gonna be really impressed”

“I’m just, I’m so worried things won’t turn out”

“You’re seriously talented Evan,” You tell him, glaring at him a little “Don’t let your brain tell you any different”

“Easier said than done” He reaches forward, taking the dish from you and rinsing it

“This would be way sexier if you were helping me with the bread earlier”

You snicker and push him back a little, grabbing the dish and setting it on the rack

“Just start on your buttercream weirdo”

He takes a clean bowl and sets it up on the stand mixer, with you helping keep things clean suddenly his mind isn’t as cluttered, the cookie timer goes off and he doesn’t even have a chance to turn around before you’re pulling them out and setting them down on the counter space you’d cleared for them.

You check on the cake for him as he’s getting the bread into the oven next and then start on the glaze for the scones. He’s watching you mix it by hand while his buttercream goes in the stand mixer and his heart aches at the sight of you, you’ve got bubbles in your hair from the dishes and a little dash of powdered sugar across your face. You smell like fresh lemons and sweet raspberry scones, and god do you look good enough to eat… he doesn’t miss the tiny pajama shorts you’re wearing and one of his large t-shirts slightly tucked into it.

You reach over and pull the little lever to stop the stand mixer and he blinks rapidly

“You’re gonna over mix it” You warn him before going back to your glaze, he looks down at his perfect vanilla butter cream, his perfect raspberry scones you’re dipping and his perfect cake sitting on the counter waiting to be iced.

And then he looks at his perfect you, and suddenly everything isn’t so bad anymore… that anxious tension between his shoulder blades is gone, that slight tremor that nearly ruined his royal icing borders from a batch of cookies earlier is gone…

“What are you doing?” You watch as he puts the crumb-coated-cake into the fridge, lays a tea towel over the cookies and puts the rest of his dishes into the dishwasher

“We can finish those in the morning, it won’t take long”

You set another scone onto the tray and he hands you the next one, his body pressing against yours, soft and warm…and something hard pressing into your side

“I think you forgot to take one of your spatulas from your apron” you chuckle as you swirl the scone through the creamy white glaze and set it on the tray. Buck pushes your hand away as you reach for another and he reaches into the bowl, scooping up some of the sticky, white, mixture.

“Hey! I’ve still got four-“

Your words are cut off as he slides his fingers into your mouth, his lips ghost over the shell of your ear as he pulls you closer to him

“Clean ‘em up for me baby”

You do as he says, running your tongue over his fingers and sucking them clean, he kisses your neck softly, fucking your mouth with them before pulling them away with a wet pop.

“Good girl”

He unties your apron, setting it aside before taking your shirt off next, his hands come up your sides, leaving a trail of flour. He palms your breasts running his thumbs over your nipples and you let out a shuddering sigh as they pebble under the cool air and his touch

“Every day I fall more and more in love with you” He mumbles, kissing you with a heated passion, his tongue slipping past your lips as you gasp. He grabs your hips tighter and sits you on the counter, stepping between your legs

“I know what you mean” you reach behind you, twirling the honey wand before pulling it back out and letting the sticky substance drip down over your breasts

His eyes widen as he watches the golden liquid trickle down your chest, pooling in your cleavage. He licks his lips, his cock twitching with anticipation.

“Fuck, that's hot” he breathes, his hands trembling slightly as he reaches out to trace a finger through the honey, gathering it up before bringing it to his mouth.

“Mmm, you taste even sweeter than I imagined” he murmurs, his tongue swirling around his finger.

He leans down, his tongue darting out to lap at the honey on your skin, his hands cupping your breasts and kneading them gently. He takes his time, savoring every drop, his hot breath ghosting over your sensitive skin.

His hands reach down, tugging on your panties and you lift your hips as he pulls them off. He runs his fingers through your soaked folds teasingly

“So fuckin’ wet for me already, aren’t you?”

He slips his fingers inside you, his thumb rubbing against your clit and you pant softly, leaning back on your elbows as he fucks you, his fingers curl upward and you gasp desperately, letting your head fall back, pressing your back into the flour covered counters. Your hands come up to tug at the roots of your hair, sugar sticking to your forearms as he works you open with his fingers. He pulls his fingers away, licking them clean and you whimper at the empty feeling

“Shhh baby” He drops his basketball shorts and his cock springs out, hard and thick, the tip leaking precum already. It drips down from the tip of his cock and you lick your lips as he steps onto your little stool

“Arent you already tall enough??” You poke at him and he grabs your hips, dragging you to his cock. He rubs his tip through your glistening lips, staring into your eyes with so much love and adoration.

“Just gives me a better angle to make love to you” He rocks his hips, shallowly thrusting the tip in and you gasp, biting your lip.

“You’re so pretty baby” He teases your clit again, rubbing slow torturous circles until he finally slowly pushes forward, his cock sliding deep inside your tight walls. He groans at the sensation, his eyes rolling back in pleasure and you sigh dreamily, your eyes rolling back too.

He sets a slower pace, flour covered hands leaving prints behind as he thrusts slow and hard, his hips kissing yours each time. He growls lowly, a primal noise coming from his chest as he works you on his cock.

His hands roam your body, caressing your tits, your stomach, your thighs, leaving trails of flour and sugar in their wake. He picks up the pace, his hips snapping against yours, the intense sound filling the kitchen and echoing in your ears as he slowly starts to lose control

“Holy shit, Buck” You pant, arching your back up and moaning for him, your heart pounds in your ears in time with his thrusts and you slowly remember the reason you’re always so gone for him

He moans deeply, placing his palms flat on the counter and rutting into you and you whimper with each thrust, your mind spinning at the way he fills you up.

“I want, I want to try something” He pulls out slowly, his chest heaving as he rubs his thumb through your soaked folds. You squirm underneath him and his finger keeps going, your eyes nearly pop out of your head as he pushes against that tight ring of muscle

“You think it’s been too long since we…?” He manhandles you onto your stomach, helping you place your knees on the counter

“N-no I think- I think I could handle that”

“You really think so?” He reaches forward and you just see a jar disappearing from your peripheral vision “I don’t wanna push you”

You put your forehead against your hands waiting with bated breath, his hand slides over your ass, pulling your cheeks apart and your back arches deeper. What he doesn’t know is that this was definitely going to be apart of his Christmas present this year and you’d been wearing a plug all week before taking it out before bed.

“Jesus you’re gonna give me a heart attack with the way you’re presenting yourself” He chuckles lightly. You hear a soft “tink” before you feel the sweet honey dripping over your ass, he moans as it slides down over your pretty, puffy lips and he can’t take it anymore.

You squeak as he dives in, your ass spread wide as he licks at your hole, his moans vibrate up your spine and pretty soon you’re moaning with him. He pulls away, drizzling a little more honey over your hole and kissing your cheek before pulling your legs down so you’re hanging off the counter.

“You ready for me baby?” He spreads your cheeks again and spits, and you squeak. He gives your ass a little smack, smirking

“Earth to bunny”

“I’m ready” you punctuate your words with a little shake of your hips and he takes the honey wand again, drizzling some over his cock and stroking it slowly before lining himself up. He taps your cheek lovingly before pushing into you carefully.

Your jaw drops slowly at the intense pressure as he slides into you. He groans loudly, his palms sliding over your body as he lays against you, his chest firm against your back.

“Feels so g-good Bunny” his hips stutter as he tries to keep from plowing right into you. He works you on his cock slowly, getting you used to his size again and you lay plastered against the counter, moaning softly and taking everything he’s giving you.

“You think you can take me harder baby? Faster?” His teeth are gritted, like he’s fighting even harder now to hold back and that sends a thrill right down to your core. He feels so impossibly big in your ass, stretching you in a way he hasn’t in a good while.

“I can handle it” You reassure him again, eagerly moving your hips on his cock and he grins wickedly

“Thats my slutty little Bunny”

He takes it slow for a minute, working you up to a faster pace before you’re making little squeaking sounds again with every rough thrust. His hands leave sticky fingerprints behind, marking your body with all the dirty things he’s doing to you. He drizzles more honey over his cock as he thrusts in and out, moaning at the little tendrils that stick you together over and over.

You reach out, holding onto the heavy stand mixer to brace yourself as he pins you down to the counter, his hand on the back of your neck

“You're so fucking sexy like this, spread out for me, taking my cock like a good little slut” he growls, his words filthy and degrading, but filled with a twisted sort of affection.

You babble in response and it just drives him crazier, he holds your hips in hands, definitely leaving behind bruises that you absolutely welcome.

Your eyes roll back and you dig your head into the counter, he reaches backward awkwardly for a second and rips a towel from the stove, he leans forward pushing inside you deeper and you cry out his name, your legs shaking.

“I’m sorry baby” he snickers, lifting your head gently and putting the towel underneath it, it’s not much but it’s something. His movements become a bit slower, deeper, and you grip that stand mixer with everything left in you as he makes love to you. His hand slides over your torso, his fingers rubbing your clit slowly, and you let out a shuddering little sigh

“There’s my pretty girl, nothin’ in that head of yours but my cock huh? Love it when you get this way”

You nod dumbly at him and he groans, his head falling back as his hips smack into yours rougher, his finger start rubbing your clit faster and you arch your back and bring your knees to your chest. He holds them in place, hissing at how tight you are around him, his pace becomes erratic again as he loses his mind inside you.

He messily places your hand over your clit and sinks his fingers inside you. You shriek as he plunges his cock in and out of your ass, his fingers working in tandem in your pussy

“Come on bunny, fuck cum for me please, I need to see you fall apart first please bunny please”

His whiny, begging, tone sends you over the edge as you scream his name, tears streaming down your face as your back arches fully off the counter and you squirt over his fingers, he moans your name loudly as he finishes inside you, fucking his cum as deeply as he can into you. He rolls his hips with each thrust before holding it inside you, pushing into you.

You lay on the counter stunned, your body shaking as you let your body turn to jelly underneath him. You weakly wipe at the tears on your face and he steps down off the stool, sliding you off the counter with him and staggers over to the couch. He plops down heavily onto it, before letting his body fall slump down, keeping his arms tightly around you.

You lay together for a while, panting softly in his neck while he rubs your back soothingly, occasionally placing weak little kisses to your temple. He can’t move very much either after that and neither of you have a problem with this.

He’s distractedly humming underneath the tree when he suddenly shifts a little, getting you both more comfy

“I think I broke my dick”

You snort into his chest as he grabs the blanket from the back of the couch and tosses it haphazardly over the two of you.

“I don’t think you broke your dick” you tell him and he scoffs

“How would you know? It’s inside you, you can’t see it!”

“Okay. By that logic, neither can you. Buck I think we’d know if you broke your dick… if that’s even possible”

“Oh it is, I’ve seen it before” his eyes close and you lift your head, looking at his peaceful expression as he starts to fall asleep.

“You’ve seen a broken dick before???”

Suddenly his bread alarm goes off and he jumps, accidentally knocking you off of him and onto the floor.

“My bread!!”

“My kidneys”

#words by rhys #rhys writes #911 x reader #911 fox #911 show #911 abc #evan buckley #evan buck buckely #evan buckley imagine #evan buckley x reader #911 #911 fanfic #rhyskinkmas24 #kinkmas 2024

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justxtalking · 1 year ago

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all the times gon showed affection, interest, care and basically relied on killua

Did I search all the times Gon explicitively expressed his affection to Killua? Yes, yes I did. Do I regret it? No, no I don't.

I decided to choose the manga since it's what Togashi wrote. However, it is important to note that there are a lot of more times if we add both versions of the anime and the movies. In addition to this, I chose the most explicit times in which Gon expressed himself so there is no misunderstanding. (Though I do think it's basically the whole manga.)

This post is hella long and had to be divided into parts, so bear with me. This is just the beginning. (Edit: Here's the link of the full post.)

Hunter Exam arc

When they first met and Gon was impressed by Killua's trick.

2. Gon happy to be with Killua and to explore with him.

3. Gon's interest in Killua's family, and surprising Killua in the process.

4. Gon being impressed by Killua's technique, curious about it and expressing "Killua is an amazing guy."

5. Gon defending Killua against Illumi and seeing right through the situation.

6. Gon swearing to take Killua away from Illumi.

Zoldyck Family arc

7. Gon's refusal for the Zoldyck's intent on separating themselves from the rest of the world and more than ready to climb the wall if it is to reach Killua.

8. Gon's phonecall with Gotoh.

9. Gon's intent on climbing up the wall to reach Killua.

10. Gon accepts to train if it means he will reach Killua.

11. Gon getting hit over and over again if it means he will reach Killua.

12. Gon playing against Gotoh while waiting for Killua.

13. Gon happy to see Killua again.

14. Gon impressed by Killua's ability to know other's strenghts, and embarrassing Killua in the process.

Heavens Arena arc

15. Gon relying on Killua's advice to win.

16. Gon happy because Killua wanted to go to his house.

(+)

Click here for the full post.

#i felt like this post was needed #yes i kind of got tired of the fandom misinterpreting gon and this was the result #i hope everyone can enjoy this post #i also wanted to add the pictures as proof and tumblr doesn't let me add ALL THE PICTURES in one post so it had to be divided into parts:(#justxtalking #hxh #hxh manga #manga hxh #hunterxhunter #hunter x hunter #killugon #gon freecs #killua zoldyck #hxh gon #hxh killua #gonkillu #hxh meta #im sorry for my followers who will see the process of this post being made #long post

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meanbossart · 7 months ago

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Ask compilation: I'm Starting To Think That This Drow Guy Is Kind Of An Asshole Edition.

Probably a Ranger in the hunter subclass. I actually intended to multi-class him as fighter/ranger at some point and make that his official class, but I haven't had time/quite figured out the best build that would still suit him - Ranger makes a LOT of sense with his backstory, arguably more than fighter, but he's still supposed to be a magic-less brick-house with 19 strength who hasn't handled a bow and arrow in 10 years, so I'm not sure where that leaves us LOL

A lot of people have suggested that Berserk Barbarian would fit him well, but I think that implies a lot of other characteristics that do NOT suit him at all so 🤷

HE DIDN'T EVEN GO TO THE CRECHE, and honestly it made the game feel much more immersive to pick one path and stick to it like Halsin suggested, even if I did have to endure the shadow cursed lands without the shiny mace 😂

Probably for the best, it'd be a real shame if the story ended there just because he didn't like Vlaakith's attitude.

But yeah Lae'zel (who, for the record, I adore) never stood a chance in his playthrough. Sorry baby girl.

I'm either uninformed or we have different definitions of what constitutes a crush, but sure I'll play in this space LOL

He's both jealous but also kind of aloof when it comes to things like that. It's yet another symptom of his arrogance, where it seems unfathomable that anyone who has him would be genuinely tempted by someone else. He doesn't mind a normal amount of glance-stealing and flattery, even playful flirting to a degree, but if there's persistence or if his partner seems to seek another person out for things he thinks he should be providing, he feels threatened.

Also, he has a difficult time discerning that "deep emotional connection" does not equal "romantic interest". So, at least immediately after the events of the game, he's more likely to be made insecure by his partners forming deep bonds with others than any throwaway expression of physical desire or fleeting infatuation.

[MORE UNDER THE CUT]

Let me preface this with the (hopefully unnecessary) disclaimer that this murderous dark-elf's opinions are not my own, and that I very much purposefully made a bit of an asshole character because I find that entertaining.

And now that you're hopefully primed for what's coming - DU drow is pretty damn judgemental of people's looks save for the rare times when they give him a good impression right off the bat. He notes people's appearances and makes preemptive assumptions about them without even realizing it. He definitely does not equal beauty to value or prowess (in fact he will very much still mock of you if you seem too concerned with your appearance) but he does prescribe things based on looks.

I don't think he'd take issue with what you're describing, It sounds like a pretty average body, but he would assume that person is weaker and less fit to "keep up with him", basically. Which kind of diminishes interest.

As far as to what he finds immediately attractive, he definitely prefers people who seem physically fit (not more than himself though - gods forbid). But, the caveat to this whole tangent is that once you get past initial impressions, he could definitely come to be sexually attracted to pretty much any type of body attached to the person he's in love with.

Thank you! There was no main event, just the building up of resentment over time and the opportunity she saw opening up when the Chosen's plan came into motion. She definitely didn't always hate him though, they had a fairly close relationship until his obsessive behavior and arrogance became an issue.

Thank you!!!

They call him the/that drow, dark elf, or "big drow" if there's more than one present. In private they might facetiously call him Bhaalspawn if they get tired of referring to him by race.

I'll be honest, I forgot whether or not I found it in his playthrough LOL but if he did stumble across that would be VERY funny. He'd be like "look at these idiots and their fake murder god. What kind of dimwit would worship carnage as a religion. Hey Shadowheart get a load of this-"

HAPPY YOU ENJOY HIM! I think his unique situation overall with having been such a overwhelmingly horrid person and forgetting all about it is my favorite bit. That's kind of vague, I know, but I often think of dreams I've had where I committed a crime or did something horrible, and that immediate feeling of relief and disconnect that follows immediately after waking up. That's kind of what I imagine it's like for him - he knows of the things he did, but he doesn't really. In theory it's all true but that's a truth far too fantastical for anyone to conceptualize even if it's put right in front of your face.

That, tackling the guilt (or lack thereof) of something you genuinely don't feel like you've done and the intricacies of it, that's a fascinating state of mind to explore. I love how many directions you can take that.

For me, having a character who is not good, but is not necessarily pure unadulterated evil, makes for a lot of complex thought experiments and contradictory values. DU drow has a lot of those - things he believes and abides by absolutely except for this specific instance, being contradictory is a pillar of his character and it can be a little challenging to keep up with it - but I'd be lying if I said I don't deeply enjoy that aspect as well all the same.

THANK YOUUUU It took me so long to figure out how to draw Astarion in a way I liked, I'm so relieved that others enjoy it too 😂

Shockingly he did succeed it and was immediately put-off by it, lmao. They wouldn't really develop much of a relationship for a while after that, so at that point DU drow just figured he was trying to get something from him and wrote him off, much as he did with everyone else with the exception of Shadowheart.

He didn't meet her at the Tiefling grove! I didn't even know you could meet her before-hand for the longest time. But he did super, duper kill her at camp of course.

He managed to hide the body and everyone else was none the wiser, huge blood bhaal-sigil on the ground aside lmao. He was a little shocked but didn't feel all that bad about it, kind of resigning to that primal feeling of satisfaction at a job-well-done that overwhelmed him instead. He decided she was too weak to survive out there and he had just spared her the trouble.

#ask compilation #du drow lore

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ofmdrecaps · 2 months ago

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10/31/2024 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR: Taika Waititi; Samba Schutte; Nat Torres; Kristian Nairn; Linds Cantrell; Dominic Burgess; Vico Ortiz; Fan Spotlight: Our Flag Means Fanfiction New Show; Halloween; Adopt Our Crew OFMD Themed Spooky Season Prompts; Love Notes;

Alrighty lovelies. So this edition is a lot later than it should be because I wanted to get permission from fans to include their absolutely beautiful work! Thank you to everyone who allowed me to share-- and please oh please if you'd like to share yours I'd love to see more of your beautiful creations-- from costumes to pumpkins for Halloween!

PS: Happy Boop Day to all who celebrated here on Tumblr!

= Taika Waititi =

Well, Taika and Rita really did steal the halloween show, I tell ya. Look at these awesome Legend of Zorro costumes!

Source: Getty Images

Source: Rita's Instagram

= Samba Schutte =

Samba and family went for something out of this world for Halloween!

Source: Samba Schutte's Instagram

= Nat Torres =

Nat asked a very important question on Halloween!

Source: Nat Torres Instagram

= Kristian Nairn =

Hey! Did you know Kristian did an interview with Instinct Magazine ?

= Lindsey Cantrell =

Our darling set decorator went as Selena Gomez from Only Murders In The Building (another show Lindsey worked on!)

Sounce: Linds' Instagram

= Dominic Burgess =

Happy Halloween from Jeffrey Fettering! He gets to dress up in all the cool costumes year round!

Source: Dominic's Twitter!

= Vico Ortiz =

Vico's put up more OFMD BTS for S2 on their Patreon! Some sneaky previews below! Vico's Patreon.

Source: Vico's Patreon

== Netflix Requests! ==

Your daily reminder from our dear crewmate aproperpirate to put in those netflix requests! https://help.netflix.com/en/titlerequest

Source: A proper pirate on Twitter

== Fan Spotlight ==

= Our Flag Means Fanfiction =

While not specifically OFMD related-- it's brought to you by Our Flag Means Fanfiction and it's spooky! New podcast by the folks who brought you OFMFF about Haunted Hollywood! Check it out on their linktr.ee!

Source: Our Flag Means Fanfiction

= Halloween =

Since Halloween always gives us such fabulous costumes I really wanted to share some that popped across my feed! LadyLiu7 on Instagram was kind enough to share her Blackbeard Costume, which I have to say, is INCREDIBLY bad ass. Thank you so much for sharing it with us!

Source: LadyLiu7's Instagram

One of our very active and amazing crewmates, politestmenace over on twitter also dressed as Ed this year, with bonus mini-menace as Kevin from Time Bandits! (Jemaine even sent some praise!) Thanks for letting me share this awesomeness dear!!

Source: Politest Menace's Twitter

Another one of our wonderful crewmates -- _gentlebeard over on twitter went as one of the Skeleton Mermaids! Check out this stunning costume! It was so impressive David re-tweeted it! Absolutely fantastic job Chelsea! Thank you so much for letting me share this with the crew!

Source: _Gentlebeard's Twitter!

= Adopt Our Crew Prompts =

Our Fan-Tabulous crewmembers over at @adoptourcrew kept up the engagement by asking folks what kind of cool OFMD stuff people were into for the spooky season and I was so happy that some of our crewmates were cool with me sharing because LOOK AT THE TALENT ON THIS SHIP!!!!!

Source: Adopt Our Crew's Twitter Like seriously, how do you all manage to get this so intricate! ITS AMAZING and SUPER SPOOKY. I would have loved to see it in person! Great job Sarah!!

Source: Habitvol6's Twitter

Oh and this extremely cool mermen skeletons decoration!? EXCUSE ME!? Poison2Princess over on Twitter knocked it out of the park with this one!!

Source: Poison2Princess on Twitter

OH and just by the way, check out this fabulous flag pumpkin by AsYouWish311 over on Twitter! It's so hard to carve pumpkins, and you DID NAIL IT! So hard! Frenchie would be proud!

Source: AsYouWish311

Tumblr keeps deleting my edits-- but Check out this SUPER BADASS PUMPKIN THAT JENN on bluesky made! Look at that!!! It looks like a title card! You are amazing luv!

Source: Metavenhorst on Bluesky!

== Love Notes ==

Hey there lovelies! I hope you all had an absolutely wonderful spooky couple days! Halloween is one of my favorite times of year because everyone gets to be so creative, and expectations are dropped even if it's just for an evening!

Please oh please remember to take some time for yourself soon if you didn't get to these past couple days! You need to recharge too. Sending so much love your way -- take care!

Source： MyEasyTherapy

#ofmd daily recap #daily ofmd recap #david jenkins #taika waititi #rita ora #Samba Schutte #nat torres #lindsey cantrell #vico ortiz #ofmd s2 bts #ofmd #our flag means death #dominic burgess #adopt our crew #save ofmd #long live ofmd #kristian nairn

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stephaniebrownslover · 3 months ago

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[Kieran Valentine Backstory Headcanons—Part 1/?]

Timeline: Him becaming a vampire and his first days as one

Okay so I was thinking about Valentine's backstory before everything, and I saw someone saying he was a war veteran (?) but when I searched for it, I couldn't find it anywhere.

So. I kindaaaa designed my own headcanon backstory for him and I swear I wasn't planning to add this much angst. (if I'm not exaggerating, this one is a bit angsty)

Anyways, this is suck and so OOC and I hateeeeee it.

Edit: omggggg why this shit is pure angst I HATE it, I wanted to make hurt/comfort with some cute moments, not hurt/no comfort and this took so that I couldn't add anything nice in it and this sucks:(((

Trigger Warnings: blood, manipulation, mention of death, self-hatred, general vampire themes

Note:

Monster High wiki says this about vampires

It also says this about Valentine

So I like to think he doesn't drink blood, that's why his eyes are pink :3

How he became a vampire

Valentine hated vampires with a burning passion. His father, who was his role model, who he wanted to be just like him when he grew up, died during a brutal attack by a vampire in hunger crisis when he was just 10 years old. Little Valentine, who witnessed this with his own eyes, hated vampires.

Until he turned 17, he began to kill vampires, who stole his life from him, by his own capabilites. Although he was still very young, he was hunting vampires without caring about what would happen to himself, thanks to his heart burning with hatred.

Of course, he wasn't as good at this as an adult, he couldn't even get close, but back then, Valentine's name was easily heard at the vampire council, since no one dared to do what would happen to them after killing a vampire. Most people didn't know the existince of vampires, and the ones who knee, were feared of them.

Stoker, who was assigned to take care of this business personally, decided to pay a visit to this novice hunter.

Completely headcanon: In order for a person to turn into a vampire, vampire blood must be mixed with their own blood.

There was a fight that lasted quite a short time, in which Valentine was deadly wounded. Stoker dropped his guard when he was about to suck the blood of Valentine, who was on the verge of death. Stoker had underestimated Valentine's hate too much.

Stoker's blood dripped on Valentine, who stabbed his sword into him just as the vampire's teeth were about to touch his neck. And Valentine, who does not know how people turn into vampires, was unaware that the vampire blood smeared on his open wounds would change his life forever.

He had turned into something he hated. He had become a terrible monster that he would have preferred to die a thousand times rather than to live as one.

He hated himself. He hated that his wounds healed so quickly, he hated some of his teeth fell out and new ones came out instead, he hated that his vision was getting better and better. He hated, hated, hated it.

But more importantly, he was afraid of himself.

Valentine, who started sobbing, did not know what to do. He was frozen. He had reached his hands to his teeth, trying to make sense of what was happening. But he couldn't even think of anything.

Valentine, who accidentally turned into a vampire, did not know what to do, he was in such a scared state that Stoker decided to show mercy for the first time in the hundreds of years he has lived and will live. The main reason for this was that he was quite impressed by Valentine's stubbornness.

However, of course, the older vampire would not deign to be nice to someone who did not have his own interests for no reason.

Stoker had agreed to take the young one between his poisoned arms in order to make him his henchman, who was charged with doing his own work. And there was no need for the boy who was standing in front of Stoker's, and disgusted with himself to know about it.

When Stoker bent down and held out his hand to him, Valentine looked at the gloved hand that was standing in front of him in tears. He did not know what he was supposed to do. He didn't know what was the right decision. Time had stopped for him, and it would never flow the same way again. At least, for him.

Stoker said a few sentences to convince him. But when he saw that Valentine was still looking at him with the same confused and undecided gaze, he was sure what he should say.

He told Valentine that he no longer had a place among people. He talked about how everyone would mention Valentine's name with pure hatred and not daring to approach him out of fear.

And he didn't forget to add that no matter how hard Valentine tried, he would always be subject to prejudice. The person who told him this was Stoker himself. Valentine could never be a part of society again.

As the tears that were slowly flowing from Valentine's eyes accelerated, Stoker knew that he had put his finger on the right point. He also talked about how Valentine didn't have to live like this.

If Valentine came with Stoker, he would be accepted among other vampires. No one would judge hin and hate him just because he was a strong creature. He would be free. And more importantly, he could be himself without being exposed to fearful eyes.

Valentine took the hand extended to him. And as he walked slowly towards Stoker's vehicle ahead, he left his old life behind along with his soul.

It was not going to be easy for him to adjust to his new life. He didn't know what kind of life awaited him when he got into a luxury car that he had never even dreamed of before.

At least he wasn't crying anymore, instead, hhe was just watching out of the window with curious eyes that they hadn't managed to take away from him. He was surprisingly calm as he watched his house, which he could never return to, disappear from sight every second.

The inside of the car was quiet, too quiet. The vampire, who had radically changed Valentine's life, gave his attention only to the book in his hand. Although he seemed to be paying no attention to his surroundings, Valentine knew Stoker could prevent him from making the slightest escape move. Valentine knew this because he could do the same thing himself now. His reflexes were highly developed compared to before.

When he entered the Council building for the first time, he felt some vampires' contemptuous, some vampires' curious, and others' only pity-filled stares on him. For the first time in his life, he had become the very centre of attention and strangely, he liked this.

Stoker took him to a room, and then said he could stay here until he was done and then they could go home.

So, Valentine did as what he was told until he learned every little detail in the room. And when there was nothing left that interested him, he decided to tour the council building.

He didn't expect to see the vampire who brought him here just as he opened the door. When they got into the car again, there was silence again, but this time it was the kind of silence that was uncomfortable for any type of creature.

Valentine had given all his attention to the road, which he could still see even though it was quite dark. That's why what Stoker said caught him off guard.

They also turned his mother into a vampire. Vampires cared about traditions, and being connected to each other was one of those traditions. Besides, their population had already decreased quite a lot and they needed new nobles. Of course, they couldn't make everyone they see a vampire, but they could turn a vampire's close family member who was still alive.

Valentine said nothing, he only blamed himself. His mother's life had been ruined by his own stupid stubbornness. Ruining the lives of everyone who was near him was probably the only thing he was good at.

They didn't speak at all the rest of the way.

Learning how to get fed

When Valentine first arrived, he was bombarded with intense teaching sessions. Vampires were noble and elegant creatures, so it was more important than anything that he received a proper education.

Fortunately, thanks to his sharp intelligence, he was able to understand his lessons quickly. In fact, he was learning so fast that if he continued like this, he might even go to the Vampire Academy next year.

Meanwhile, things weren't that decent between him and his mother. It wasn't good, but at least it wasn't bad. His mother wasn't angry at him or anything, she even thanked him for saving her life.

There was just something that Valentine couldn't quite put his finger on it. She was distant. She was cold, and it was as if she wasn't there even when she was with him. What had happened to his old loving mother?

His skin was cold. His skin was as cold as a dead person's and his heart wasn't beating. He couldn't see himself in the mirror. He couldn't even go out into the sunlight without taking the necessary precautions. And he didn't like it at all.

He could have been richer than ever before, he could have had more books than he would ever get in his whole life despite his dreams, and he could have even gotten a great education, but it was all just a sweet illusion.

Still, he thought that if he kept acting, one day all this wouldn't hurt so much anymore. If he never took off the mask on his face, he could forget who he was and integrate with the mask. That's what he should have done anyway, just like his mother.

He easily adopted the aristocratic clothing style of that period. The only thing that made him feel like the person he was was his clothes, which were extravagantly stylish and perfectly groomed. Moreover, many vampires also liked the style he had. He could even communicate with them if he felt ready. At least, this could have helped him feel like he belonged somewhere a few years earlier.

After about a month had passed, everything had started to go well for him. He felt that he was getting used to being a vampire, and he was scared crazy about it. But he was learning to drown his fears.

Gradually, he also began to get rid of his timid and helpless personality. He knew he was not the weak boy he had been the day he first came to Stoker's castle. He was trying to learn something new whenever he had the opportunity. He had a really curious personality, the kind of curiosity that would put him in danger.

He might have started acting like a vampire, but there was one thing he could never do. Valentine refused to drink blood.

Strangely, he believed that if he started drinking blood, he would never be himself again. And since that's what he really wanted anyway, he should have been able to drink blood. He didn't realize that he was lying to himself.

(it's a ridiculous headcanon because I don't exactly know how emotional vampires born)

Valentine, unlike his mother, had become an emotional vampire. Stoker attributed the reason for this to the intense emotions he felt before and after becoming a vampire.

Because he hadn't been fed in any way for the last month since he arrived, or used anything to support his iron needs, he had started to lose strength more and more.

He had huge eyebags that were growing day by day, his skin had taken on a too pale tone even for a vampire. He couldn't use his powers, he couldn't go out in the sun despite all the precauiton items he used. He felt so tired most of the time.

He was desperate, he felt weaker than ever, and he never once thought about drinking blood. However, since he was an emotional vampire, what he really needed were emotions. Blood would only give him energy. If he wanted to be strong, he had to feed on emotions.

In fact, Valentine didn't actually make up the information that he had to break a heart to be strong on his own. The person who told him this was Stoker himself.

Valentine's refusal to drink blood in defiance of vampire traditions was getting on Stoker's nerves. And that's why he believed that if he led Valentine to a rather difficult way of eating, he would have no choice but to drink blood. He also used hatred because it was the most intense emotion that the young vampire felt.

According to Stoker, Valentine was a vampire who fed on hatred because of his previous life, and he needed people's hate to be strong.

Valentine, who was still very new to it and was suffering from a lack of strength caused by not eating anything, asked how to do it. He had been hungry for so long that he no longer cared about opposing his own personality as long as no blood included.

Stoker said the first thing that came to his mind, who could be more hateful than a girl whose heart was broken into a thousand pieces by her darling love?

And Valentine believed it. Moreover, for hundreds of years, he continued because no one even cared to offer him another option.

After the first heart he broke, he gained the ability of hypnosis thanks to his vampire powers. It was actually quite an ironic situation. He had acquired the ability to make people love him by making them hate himself.

Stoker saw that despite all the hearts he had broken, the stubborn vampire still insisted on not drinking blood. That's why he gave up on his goal.

He was looking with disgust at the iron supporters who entered his castle for the first time because of Valentine. Although feeding on emotions restored Valentine's strength, he still needed more blood or iron supporters for some features, such as being able to go out in the sun.

After Valentine learned to eat, he had only one thing left in front of him; getting used to his new life.

And Valentine still hated vampires with passion.

..................................................................................

Bro listens Malice Mizer because I say so(I'll say this in my every Valentine writing)

SOMEONE TAKE THE WORDS AWAY FROM ME WHY DID I WRITE THIS I HATE MYSELF I WASN'T PLANNING TO MAKE HIM SO SO MISERABLE I'M SO SORRY THAT WASN'T MY INTENTION

I KNOW THIS WHOLE POST SUCKS SO HARD I KNOW AND I'M SORRY FOR STEALING YOUR TIME

I'M SORRYYYYYY I SWEAR I'LL MAKE HIM HAPPY ONE DAY IF I WON'T STOP WRITING FOR HIM AFTER THIS

I kinda want to write him with Spelldon to make this up but I know nothing about Greek Mythology, not even the basics so it would be really weird lol

#I've destroyed the joyful spirit of MH :((((((#monster high g1 #kieran valentine #monster high #monster high headcanons #kieran valentine headcanons #headcanon #valentine #valentine headcanons #lord stoker #angst #fullyyyyyy angst #I'm sorry it's my fault

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krewekreep · 1 year ago

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JJK Headcanons: Suit & Tie Edition

Word count: A lot I wrote this on Mobile. (Would love if somebody comments the word count for me lol)

Summary: JJK as Professionals/Corporate Boys + as BFs ((randomly began to rate them on a scale of 10, this post is really for my amusement—I hope you enjoy!!)) (I’ll update this over time to include all male JJK characters and more details, just really a random thought post), #activepost. (Will also likely end up lengthy so)

Hiromi: Lawyer

Of Course Hiromi would continue his work as a public defense attorney. He’s considerate but neurotic. Fair but cautious. And has a strong sense of principles that make his job perfect for him but also perfect for his various neurosis to fester and continue depressing this overwhelmed man.

As a Partner: At the point Hiromi (probably a mid life crisis) really realizes he’d like a relationship he’d be the guy that has everything planned out in his head but fails miserably somehow. He’s so analytical and emotional (his consideration of others not really the expression of emotion) and would end up a worry wart of sorts about being up to par with whatever imaginary standards he’s projected onto you. Less so than reassurance, you’d just be incline to remind him he doesn’t need to go above and beyond or have super grand gestures to be impressive. Likewise he’d want to communicate (maybe too much) once a conflict or issue occurred and I can see him likely being a bit overbearing with “You okay? Are you realllyyy okay??? You sureeee???” Along with literal hour long sit downs after arguments or disagreements. You end up feeling he can get parental but find him a good balance or synergy to your possibly avoidant or passive (I just end up shutting up completely lmao) conflict style. He’d work way too much in the beginning and maybe even have a moment of conflict with you about it but will level out with time as you will be his literal priority and focus. Diligent and upstanding he’s (in my taste) a 7-8/10. (I’d get immediately tired of his work schedule cause I’m “clingy”)

Nanami: Doctor

While Nanami is canonically coded as an overworked salary man I think in another universe he’s the perfect doctor. Similar to Hiromi but a bit more stoic and willing to work pass his limits. He’s the type to really be working triple, quadruple shifts off nothing but caffeine and the smiles of his patients. I think he’d be a pediatrician, dentist, or the perfect primary care physician. I see him being a talented medical student that actually does it for the love of the work. He’s the doctor everyone has the hugest crush on but are too intimidated to speak to—and who is also assumed to obviously be claimed cause who wouldn’t.

As a Partner: Kento would absolutely have the worst schedule. He’s genuinely, (probably neurotically), earnest and diligent. His patients’ care is his only concern and you would end up finding his work reputation as an anti social coworker pretty incongruent to the yeah quiet, sometimes intimidating but overwhelmingly kind and considerate man. Of course you become his “special” patient (whether you meet him as his patient or outside of work) and you begin to cutely annoy him by always being sick and needing to be seen only by him. He’ll honestly at first find it lightly irritating as a distraction but will realize how his shoulders ease and his breath steadies when he calms at your presence. As a man of a few words, and literally hands on as a health practitioner, he will communicate his love with actions and gifts. You’re surprised at work or date out with your friends with flowers and a note. Or he tells you he doesn’t want you inside all day and left his card on the nightstand. “Buy something for me ;).” How he only is ever cute or flirty in texts, and a shy even bubbling big guy who flushes red when you kiss him on the cheek. He’s the guy the upper admin want to promote but then will be even more unavailable so he doesn’t tell you about it. And at a work dinner when his coworker comments on it, lowers his head in shame for keeping it from you. In an argument, whether he feels right or wrong, he just wants you to calm down. Hate to psychoanalyze but Nanami gives the vibe he overprotects because he wasn’t protected and/or saw those he cared about hurt terribly and that those he treasures he’s pained to see disturbed in any way. So no he doesn’t want to see you mad and rightfully so he doesn’t know how to communicate he wants MORE time with you not less…and how he actually found a better job with better pay in another state so… “Y/N? Absolutely I was wrong to hold it from you…but now that I told you my other plans…would you…” (lmao I’m trolling I’m so sorry). Overall if he drops everything for me he’s a 10/10 cause he’s also my first JJK Husbando anyway blep) Strong, big, and SILENT!

Suguru: Political Consultant

Pre & Post Kenjaku Geto would be someone ending up in politics. Everyone wants to save him and give him his little tattoo shop but this man (of course once any incredibly negative event would happen cause he’s very emo coded) would be at think tanks and conferences and Capital Hill. While not sinister he’s a good bit mischievous (and messy). He’d love it for the sheer drama and mess and blackmail. He’d love how easy it would be to orchestrate against his enemies for whatever his “grand ideas” are…in reality he’s the worst (best) type of personality because he would never be “neutral,” he’d simply let it be known his “side” is whichever and whoever advances his desires. And his allegiances WILL change. He’d be the political actor in all those official photos no one really knows and that’s the point. (damn he’s just inspired a Scandal TV Show AU)

As a Partner: Boy…you better be the most apolitical person ever, devious as all hell, or truly ready to be his simp in all regards. This man will be everywhere but home. He WILL miss dates, I’m so sorry! (Even if he was jobless he’d somehow be late or miss a date and nobody can convince me otherwise.) You’d go to truly bewildering events in terms of scope and breadth of wealth, access, and political influence. As an Aquarius (real life shade too I’m sorry again) he’d be so two faced! You’d hear him drag for someone BAD and then upon meeting them realize THEY think he’s their BEST FRIEND. I’m sorry Geto is messy coded to me and you’d have to be down for being a hater at Dawn. (We’d work as friends not lovers cause I wake up and hate.) He’d spoil you monetarily from the beginning so it’s up to you if you accept them even if their very obligatory feeling. Otherwise, I see him being impressed by your ability to challenge him, call him out, or deny him. He TELLS you you’re going to be his date to an event but maybe he was way too flirty with one of his peers and thought you didn’t notice? He’s left outside in his bespoke suit with happy flowers and a sour face. 😂 BUT, he’ll weirdly respect (even possibly turned on.) Depending on how you play it he’ll be the guy who just won’t leave you alone and loves to bother you into a reaction for his amusement—or (if you decide to simp) a guy who’ll definitely see how far you’ll let him go. He’ll flirt with everyone and openly lightly disrespect you cause honestly he’s likely encountered enough simps before. Yet, the fact it’s out of pure emotion and want for him rather than money or prestige will make him feel guilty and he’ll SLOWLY but EVENTUALLY be a good partner holistically. Even to the degree he’ll break “character” upon any disrespect or unsavory comment made towards you. Politically—(I know for me I’d kill him probably) since he’d be a “only here for my own best and vested interests,” maybe you’d think hard on his principles. Maybe you’d confront him about how his “neutrality” is selfish and he should be able to stand on something and stick to it! Then maybe he’ll just simply bring out a laptop you’ve never seen before, type in a few things facing away from you, and show you terrabytes of collected info on everyone across the spectrum…maybe he’d then sit there bored as you scream “REALLY? NO WAY?? NOT HER??? Okay well I felt like he’d do something like tha….OH EWWWWW.” And scoffs to himself thinking “and that’s only what I know won’t make you throw up…” All in all I see TRUST and sincerity being the biggest dealbreaker given (and it’s fair) to feel like he’s fake with you or unsure of his feelings. But…the way he gets in bed and private lets you accept his real feelings for you. He’s a 6/10 because the flirting would KILL ME. And he’s technically my second and half JJK Husbando. Grown him would still be menace regardless of Kenjaku.

Satoru: Sports Manager/Finance

Now Satoru would either be the nepo baby that abandons it all or the nepo baby that reluctantly accepts his role at his family conglomerate. If he gets his way: I see Satoru as a sports manager. He’s a people person, athletic, and would care about the young athletes in the industry. If we convert the students of Jujutsu to athletes I definitely see him being one of the managers representing the most Olympians and medaled performers. He’s hot in his shades and open shirt suits with his iPhone against his ear and his blackberry in his hand texting off a contract or something…(Sports Manager AU coming up :/)

Now if he accepts his role at his family conglomerate he’s the CEO of an old money finance firm. He hates his life and his job and hates his responsibilities. It would be closer to his feelings of burden in the story cause he’s well off and well respected but it’s because he was born to be, so it’ll be a job of obligation. Yet, he’d definitely be a philanthropist and own a charity. He’d hate (but understand) the criticism so he’d just shrug and do the most he can. He’s the type to stay single (or marry a few times) but adopt and of course Megumi, Yuuji, and Nobara are his kids. He does conferences and speaks at events and otherwise is one of those “good” billionaires. (I’d give him a hard time about where his money comes from while telling him what color Birkin I want…cause duality…)

As a Partner: Sports Manager Satoru will not be as free and it’s likely upon cementing a committed relationship you’ll travel with him across the world. I don’t see Satoru being the kind of guy who can do LONG distance or long period of time without physically being near his partner. You’d be the wife without a ring (only for a short time, he’s definitely a “if you’re down I’m down and I love you so let’s get this show on the road” type man. He’s the kind to wait to find the right one but you’ll be a bit annoyed at how many possible “right ones” are floating around in the world. He’ll chuckle sheepishly cause every event lurks an ex somewhere. Whether for a week or a couple years—and you fight seething next to him as you take a long gulp of the alcohol in your glass. How it gets to you beyond jealousy that maybe he’s a lover boy and not retired yet? How you want to never be a numbered ex in an irritatingly lengthy list… “Did you really have to give ALL of them the partner title?” You say as you cross your arms and huff in a pout. Satoru’s the kind to always wanna laugh or kiss conflict away, usually it worked but not now. “Babe…,” he moves closer to you to which you move farther from him. “Babe…? Please?” When he has to get serious and you’re being avoidant or passive then he’s the manager everyone fears for his easy ferocity. Now your held down with no choice but to face his peering blue eyes. “Hey…I know my…past upsets you. I mean…shit it kinda upsets me too.” The scowl on your face makes him shake out of his intensity to clean up the sentence: “No I mean, I wish I knew how to love better…I wasted a lot of time and energy…and other people’s time and energy…so for what’s it worth I’m trying and we are in it for the long haul, kid.” No matter your age, he’ll clock your immaturity cutely. Big spender, pretty obvious. Lover boy, who you’ll have to keep an eye on solely for the women who will try you. You end up being at every game and rumored an athletes partner until Toru gets proper mad (extremely jealous he’s not getting the shipping attention and it’s his partner!) and will pop the question at a championship game or whatever. I see a regular fun but albeit stressful travel induced relationship. But one with a thousand memories and fun. Although (please don’t cut me) Gojo isn’t my type at all I don’t know why—he’s def still a 9/10. I can accept dealing with exes and others if you’re ACTUALLY devoted to ME.

Finance Bro Toru: This will not be an openly happy and likely extravagant or extraverted Satoru. This one would be cold and reclusive. It’s likely you only end up on a date with him because he weirdly keeps seeing you on the metro or at his coffee shop or at his favorite lounge. It’ll be nothing to him but he’ll slowly (likely having nothing better to do and being distant from others) people watch doing his best to not accept he only ever watches you. It becomes his break from pressing matters that don’t matter at all to him. How simple but frenzied you are and how you overapologize for knocking over something. How you debated out loud if it was worth asking the Barista to correct your order, then giving up upon mumbling “Oh everyone is so stressed nowadays it’s fine. I’ll just drink it.” How you bristle thinking the man behind you just laughed at you…but how silly that must be to assume on a random man. How he’ll play with his watch and phone outside the shop waiting on you. How he grows impatient and stomps his foot too used to ordering people around and having folks at his beck and call. He’ll cough loudly as you pass by and since you pay him no mind weirdly jogs to catch up to you. “Uh, hey! Hi…Hello,” this dude is weird what does he want. “I—I,” eh he’s cute but…has a stuttering problem? “Yeah guy? What’s up? My train leaves in ten minutes and I got a thirty minute walk before I even get there.” How he doesn’t know how to keep up and finds you abrasive. “I just wanted to ask if you’d like to eat somewhere with me? NOT right now…of course…aha.” You look over the admittedly stunning obvious investor type with consideration. “I thought you had somewhere to be?” He teases. “Oh I do! But…the event I had to get to in ten minutes started an hour ago…lol. I think they’ve accepted my absence by now.” And the both of you would stand awkwardly for like 3-5 good minutes. “So,” you both speak. “Ah you can go sorry about that,” Toru throws. “Well…where you wanna go eat?” And Boom Satoru’s forgotten the seven meetings for today. At first thinking if anything this beautiful stranger can give me a good day. Then when he realizes he’s a late 20 something with no real social life or sense of fun so now you’re damn near seeing him whenever he can. And he’ll love to sneak off to your shabby apartment where his people won’t think to look. “Toru don’t you have a literal meeting with Wells Fargo?” He’ll sour any time you mention work. “Do I have to go to serve a real purpose or just fill in a seat and say yes to whatever they propose?” Well he ate that tbh. So you let him continue eating his Deli sandwich and watching the Bear. Once he loves you he will not even entertain the debate of leaving you because of his role. If anything he’ll propose (albeit inappropriately) at an elite event for the sole sake of making everyone mad. You want to be sure he’s with you for you and not to prove a point or be a “bad boy” and all he does is call up his best friend Suguru in DC and Shoko in Seattle to tell you about how truly terrible your man was as a youth. If anything you bring him back to the source of his actual personality. So you realize this old geezer is actually a retired trouble maker and is absolutely in love with you and getting you both in “trouble.” Easily one of the biggest spenders but deeply intimate so it’ll go either way. He could just be the guy that buys you exactly what you want when you want or the guy that yeah buys you a Rolex without blinking but makes you open ten boxes from huge to miniature all as a gag as he can’t stop laughing at your disappointment. Upon getting to the Rolex he waits for the scream and jumping into his arms. He’ll be a little shitty pervert once you’re in his arms though. 7/10 only cause I romanticized it ALOT but I hate the Uber wealthy and that lifestyle. Plus he’d be much harder to warm up and likely be someone YOU really want to be with tbh😭 AND he’d likely be a victim of a VERY small worldview so unless you code it like dumb rich man meets the real world he’d be insufferable.

Yuuji: Construction Firm CEO/Estate Broker

Yuuji would do construction. Don’t know why he just seems the type…(actually I watch Selling Sunset). He’s less a real estate agent and more an owner of a large estate development firm. If Yuuji ever would decide a life where every day is suits and ties…he’s gonna forgo the tie and remain open shirt to almost an inappropriate degree…he’ll always get requests for “personal” tours but ruins it getting lost in over explaining permitting and how difficult it was to get city approval for zoning. He has the perfect personality for it as it’s an active, hands-on job that’s still people based but also creative. Yuuji is someone who would need a holistically fulfilling job and I think the energy of real estate development is very him.

As a Partner: Full Blown Unintentional Love Bomber. I hate to say it but Yuuji is absolutely someone to fall and fall WAY too hard. I don’t see him being aggressive or forceful but he will appear wherever you are. He’s a well connected, well respected, wealthy man it’s not weird for him to end up at the parties you end at up either. It’s stranger for you to be there but whether you are in his field or of a professional career, a client or someone who just meets him, Yuuji will be the kind to sweep you off your feet. While it’s likely you won’t always physically be around him or able to—he’s the kind to have you on the phone throughout his work day, all day. “Yeah I mean again it was right for you to tell your boss you can’t do someone elses—DIDNT I SAY A DIFFERENT STYLE OF BACKWASH! Portion of the work? If they know there’s gonna be a big client coming then they should’ve—TODO CALL ABOUT THE PERMITS BEFORE I LOSE MY FUCKING MIND!!! Made sure everyone did their portfolio and presentations…do you need me to call up there? You know I know…”(insert CEO you don’t even know of your company’s Name Here lmao). It would all depend on you if how hard he loves is perfect or off putting. He’d love very publicly but would respect your request for reduced or no PDA. He’d just be so happy he has someone tbh. And someone who wants what he wants in a long term, committed way. He’s a lover boy but only in the sense he wants to truly give his heart to someone and take care of someone else’s. Big spender, big protector, big my girl said I can’t come so *shrugs*, very much a “stop telling me how much something is…numbers annoy me, here” and now you got his black card realness. In conflict he will force you into his arms and make sure you scream, cry, and whatever else ;) it all out. You get annoyed he refuses to argue with you and will literally fall silent. How he tells you everyone gets frustrated but he just can’t get frustrated with you as he leaves you for work with a kiss on the forehead. How you get a heat building in your stomach and suddenly want to shop for kid’s clothes. Upon marriage and/or creating a family Yuuji calls Megumi up to design a couple houses. “A couple houses??? We only need one Yu…” You can’t contain your laughter. “One? That is absolutely not enough. We are going to have two family homes—you decide where. You’re gonna have your own condo when you want time to yourself and—babe you know me…thinking of houses for the babies…” meanwhile nobody is pregnant. But you hold your stomach instinctively for some reason. How fatherly and intense made your initial reaction become: “Sure! I mean…how many houses we thinking…?” You chuckle nervously, to which Yuuji just tells Megumi they’ll speak later and rises from his seat towards you. “I don’t know, but for sure one has to look like me and one has to look like you…so what we gonna do about that? Guess we’ll have to keep em coming till that happens, no?” 10/10 I’m so “one and done” like? I do NOT feel like dating 😂

Megumi: Architect/Engineer

I debated whether he would be an Architect or Engineer but if we ever learn their favorite subjects we’ll know if he’s STEM-brained or more humanities based. Either way he’ll do something that’s still creative but methodical. Like Yuuji he’d need full stimulation from his job and I think of course he’d be Yuuji’s business partner who designs the buildings. Likewise a job with purpose and long lasting impact. He’s definitely about sustainability and would incorporate nature similar to Japanese architects like Sou Fujimoto (utilizes unconventional shapes and literal nature) and Kengo Kuma (utilizes shape and literal environment by means of aesthetic cohesion to the surroundings xyz I had to look it up and simplify it 😭💕).

Otherwise he’s some kind of engineer (I’m more humanities so forgive how bad I summarize). Rather than unfamiliar, I’m moreso unsure of which kind of engineering would suit him “the most” but I find of course he’d likely be an industrial, civil, or architectural engineer. He’d want to be useful and in every sense not waste his time or his energy. Maybe a concentration in environmental engineering specifically just cause I see him having a mindset of sustainability and community.

As a Partner: Openly neurotic and pathological about his work so be ready for that kind of man. Will absolutely get mad if you interrupt him working but knowing it’s a him thing will feel guilty about ghosting you for a week…so will continue to ghost you. You’ll have be angry, sad, or simping enough to endure Megumi. He’s definitely introverted and because of the insular nature of his work will be a human black cat. He’ll want his pets when he wants them, cuddles when he wants them, distance when he wants it, etc. You’ll have be used to or okay with someone who may not talk the entire day. Even if he’s not working, I see Megumi just being someone who can and will revel in peace and silence. If you relate that’s perfect and you’ll be two cats in a burrito blanket. If not, he’ll REALLY have to like you to like your possibly disruptive or hyper active nature. And may not be able to appreciate you until you meet Yuuji and Nobara and others. He’ll realize “Yeah, it’s me” realizing just like with everyone else he grew to care about he has to be open and fair and patient. All of a sudden he chuckles more at your dumb jokes or clumsy nature. As a professional, whether it be conferences or grants or fellowships Megumi will end up sought after and very busy. Likely the weight of academics and infrastructure will be visible in his pronounced dark eyes so it’ll take time for him to break out of accepting being overburdened and overworked but your trips to the beach, your propensity to miss deadlines and laugh it off, the way you went to class or work hung over and had an amazing day…he takes it all in and so maybe he won’t accept or feel pressured to do this or that or work overtime on this or help someone with that…he’ll learn how to “overwork” his own way and once he’s consulting with cities on infrastructural improvements and visiting more schools seeing little kids projects on space and noodle bridges he’ll remember how fun what he does is and will kiss you the most passionate he ever has when he gets home. How his hand rests on your stomach and rubs it lightly. “Meg (his albeit reluctantly accepted nickname) your so flirty tonight?! What’s up with you?” He’ll say nothing as he leans into the crook of your neck and breaths. He doesn’t think he’s a charmer but that’s what makes him all the more dreamy to you. How you never could question his sincerity since he’s the living embodiment of it, so how when he wants you—really wants you…it’s easy to lean into him and let him drift your bodies to your bedroom. Empty introverted all up on you cat boy Megumi: 10/10. The functionality of the relationship is a strong 3/10 because he will not prioritize the relationship for a number of MONTHS. He’s a workaholic introvert who is an engineer…whether graduate student, Ph.D, Instructor, or seasoned professional he’s def gonna be hard to deal with. Likewise you’ll have to be really strict with him about replying to you cause he’ll just…not do it. He’ll answer in his head and hope it gets to you…so once you threaten a breakup if he goes a day ever again without replying to you…he’s incredibly responsive and kicks himself at all the day to day conversation he missed out on…so he’ll make up for it.

Upcoming

Yuuta

Sukuna

Toji

Choso

Haibara

Inumaki

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wisecrackingeric-2 · 1 year ago

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SPOILERS FOR SEPERATE WAYS UNDER CUT N O T OPEN IT IF YOU DONT WANNA SEE EM!!!!!!!!

Here’s my little tiny exploration of Luis’ character because it is my god-given duty to pull him apart and analyse him

• Ok so first off………. THE OPENING SCENE??????????? Oh my god there’s S O MUCH TO TALK ABT. Yes Luis dancing is hot as SHIT but also???????? He was about to get TORTURED and MURDERED and he STILL decided to have fun with it and do a lil dance?????? That’s so!!!!!!!!!! He wants to live out his fantasies right until the end!!!!! He truly does think his confidence can get him anywhere!!!!!!! And then when the dance ends he’s READY TO FISTFIGHT THE MONKS?????? NO WEAPONS HES FULLY ABIUT TO GO FISTFIGHT THEM???? He KNOWS it’s a loosing battle but he’s gonna fight tooth and nail to the very end!!!!!!!!!!!

• Also when he turns to face the person who was also dying in the cell and says “this next dance is for you brother” and we get a close up of his face……….. god it hurts to know that that was a person. Somebody who was beautiful in their own right and maybe even somebody who meant something to Luis. Even in the face of death Luis sees the beauty in it ARGHGAGWHSGSB

• Also also I’m sure SOMEBODY could find meaning behind the Flamenco (somebody more knowledgeable in Spanish culture than me) but I’ve heard some people say it symbolises capture and death???? CAPCOM HOW DARE YOU HURT ME SO

• I LOVE that we get to see a more relaxed side of Luis around Ada and less of his flirtiness and damn. It’s so obvious he and Leon are in Love. He’s trying soooooooo hard to impress Leon every time they talk by being super flirty with him and then whenever he’s with Ada he’s a total nerd he’s soooooooooooooo in love w that blonde twink

• GODDAMN THAT FIRE SCENE. WHAT I S N T THERE TO TALK ABOUT??????? First of all the paralells between his childhood where he watched his grandfather die in a fire?????? Also he FULLY RAN INTO A BURNING BUILDING AND ALMOST DIED J U S T TO GET LEON HIS MEDICINE????????????? HE CARES ABOUT LEON SM I WANNA RIP SOMETHING APART. He didint wanna see Leon die in the same way his Grandfather did because he couldn’t save his Grandfather back then!!!!!!!!!!! He wants to make things right!!!!!! HE WAS LITERALLY ON HIS HANDS AND LNEES CRYING I CANT I CANT

• Also ADA CARES ABT LUIS SM,,,,,,,, SHE RAN INRO A BURNING BUILDING TO SAVE HIM AND MAKE SURE HE DIDINT DIE,,,, THE BESTIES EVAH

• godDAMN that scene where Luis heals Ada?????? I LOVE that we see him hesitate for a good solid few seconds on wether or not he should run away from her or stay,,, wether or not he should go back to his usual habits of running away from the people he loves or stay to help,,,, ANS HE STAYS TO HELP BECAUSE HE CARES ABY ADA AND ALSO??? ADA BEING LIKE “leave me here……… besides…… you’ve got a promise to keep……..” OOOOOOOUGGHHH SHE KNOWS,,,, SHE KNOWS HOW MUCH LEON MEANS TO HIM I CANNOG RN also that lil apothecary thing he had was sooooo gender of him

•OH MY GOD HIS DEATH SCENE WHERE HE CALLS HER?????????????? I don’t remember EXACTLY what he said and I’d have to comb through like hours of footage to find it again but,,,,,. THE FACT THAT HE CALLED HER TO SAY GOODBHE????? HE CARES ABOUT HER RIGHT UMTIL THE END?????? AND HE CALLS HIMSELF HER ‘Good Samaritan’ IN THE SAME WAY HE CALLS HIMSELF DON QUIXOTE TO LEON AOAOAISAUJSSOSISKS,,,,,, and then he’s like “sorry I’ve gotta go Leon needs my help ;)” OUGH,,,,, I’m gonna reference another post from my mutual but it’s so sad that Luis got to spend the rest of his life with Leon but not the other way round………………..

• I’m so glad we got to see more of Luis and more of his personality when he’s not tryna swoon the blonde twink he’s in love with BXNSBEHEJXIAIS he feels like such a deep and real human being especially whenever he interacts with Ada and I just,,,,,,,,,, sigh. He’s my favourite character for a reason. 10/10 no notes

• Edit: also the parallels between Luis calling himself Ada’s ‘Good Samaritan’ and Leon his Sancho like AAAAAAAAAA???? You could pick apart the meaning and argue abt how good samaritans are usually friends and Sancho is a code word for Gay Lover in a lot of old fashioned Spanish bars like how ‘friends of Dorothy’ was but ANSNWUENDUNXXUNDDHXN SHUT UP I can’t rn

•Also I’m SURE you could pull some symbolism from the bugs and from Luis having an apothecary as catholic self-exorcism and how ‘science is the roof of all evil’ and Luis is using it to help others etc etc etc……….

Also if anyone else finds anything abt luis lore wise like how you have to find a picture of his grandfather or of him with Umbrella in the original PLEEEEAAAAASSSWE SHOW ME I NEED MORE LUIS BACKSTORY I NEED IT IN MY VEINS

• ALSO ALSO EDIT: the fact that one of the ingredients for his cure are butterfly wings???? And butterflies symbolise CHANGE????? HIS ENTIRE ARC IS ABT CHANCE??????? I’m actually gonna be sick.

#ericswriting #serennedy #luis sera #luis serra

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mapsontheweb · 2 years ago

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Cities by Impressiveness of Mountain Backdrop / Rut

by u/Gigitoe

After seeing the recent posts Cities with a better mountain backdrop than LA? ( u/odi3luck ) and This is a response to the LA mountain backdrop ( u/sam_woke ), I realized that I had the exact tools to answer a particularly niche but interesting question:

How do we quantify how impressive a city's mountain backdrop is?

To answer this question, we use rut, an indicator I developed back in the days to quantify how sharply or impressively the surroundings of a location rise above the location. (my research paper if you're interested)

Roughly speaking, rut works as follows:

The higher the mountains rise above a city, the more impressive they are, and the higher the rut.

The steeper the mountains rise above a city, the more impressive they are, and the higher the rut.

In the map shown, I measured the rut of every city with a population of over 100,000. Here's some cities in each tier and their corresponding rut values:

S tier - rut > 500 m (world-class, would visit for mountain views alone) -

Pokhara, Nepal (1358 m) | Chamonix, France (1336 m) [not on map; population too low] | Zermatt, Switzerland (904 m) [not on map] | Yosemite Valley, CA (617 m) [not on map] | Innsbruck, Austria (584 m)

A tier - rut between 200 to 500 m (impressive, but probably wouldn't visit just for mountain views)

B tier - rut between 100 and 200 m (mountains in close proximity, or big mountains further away)

C tier (glorified hills nearby, or distant mountains, or very distant big mountains) - rut between 25 and 100 m

D tier (hills nearby, or glorified hills in the distance, or very distant mountains) - rut between 10 and 25 m

F tier (flat tier) - rut between 0 and 10 m

So to answer the question, what cities have a better mountain backdrop than Los Angeles? Quite a lot... quite a lot.

Here's the data spreadsheet that was used to generate this map!

Edits: switched Vancouver to downtown measurement, added more cities, switched to steepness explanation instead of proximity explanation.

----------------

Note: rut measurements only consider rise above surroundings (relative height differences and steepness). They do not consider absolute elevation, nor the "aesthetics" of a mountain, nor visibility (or lack thereof) due to weather or smog.

This visualization was made possible with Google Earth Engine, MERIT DEM, and GeoNames.

If you like rut, you'll probably like its older brother jut even more. Jut is an indicator of how impressive, spectacular, or badass a mountain is—considering both its height above surroundings and steepness. If you want to find the most impressive mountains near you or worldwide, you may find the link above to be useful.

Let us know if you have any questions or comments—I'm happy to address them!

#maps #Gigitoe #cities #mountains

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gabzilla-z · 2 years ago

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ok quick thoughts, spoilers behind the cut.

Pros:

Halle. HALLE. H a l l e. Her voice, her face, her mannerisms. They took what made Ariel special in the animated movie and built on it and she was the perfect person to pull it off.

Her beauty was distracting.

So glad they finally got a singer for a live action, I couldn’t take another B&B autotuned disaster.

Made me want to get to the nearest rock and play mermaid ngl.

I had my doubts with Jonah but he did a great job with Eric, played the shy, kinda awkward potato prince charming to perfection. Loved that they expanded his backstory and his interest in adventure and the sea. Also A+ for the movie knowing he had a white shirt on while surrounded by water and using every chance it had to drench him.

Eric still being caring and worried about Ariel even under Ursula’s spell? 10/10 no notes.

He came to chew bubblegum and be dreamy and he was all out of bubblegum.

Halle and Jonah’s chemistry was insane, I need them to do ten movies making eyes at each other.

Seriously the movie could have been 2 hours of them interacting in that library and it would have been money well spent.

or just two hours of them being cute smol and tol in a boat idc

TRUE LOVE INDEED

Can’t wait for this movie to be out in D+ so I can reblog all the gifs.

Part of Your World and all reprises were ofc gorgeous. Vanessa’s Trick is haunting and exactly what one would want for a siren song. For the First Time is gorgeous and underrated, felt very Broadway-esque. Eric’s song was corny but in a good way.

The rest of the songs are adequate but are not as good as the original ones.

Gotta said, song aside, the Kiss the Girl scene was more endearing in this version. When she helps him figure out her name?

Melissa was good as Ursula and made the character her own, though I think she was not as scary as she could have been. Better than I expected, though.

The actress that plays Vanessa knew she had 5 minutes to make an impression and used them to the fullest. Delightful.

Cons:

The CGI felt unfinished and so did the color grading/lighting. I edited all the movie images in this post (just played with the saturation and the contrast) and I’m mediocre at best. HIRE TUMBLR EDITORS, DISNEY.

Halle deserved to wear more outfits, I can't believe Disney missed an opportunity to sell more dolls. Would have given her a dress for each day on land and the water dress. Mouse, I thought you liked money.

we could have had it all

Wanted more of her sisters tbh. And less Triton, Javier phoned it in imo. I know Triton and Ariel’s relationship is an important part of the original movie but idk if it was his half assed acting or me wanting more of the sisters, but I wasn’t moved.

Flounder's weird character design was saved by his stellar voice actor and Sebastian grew on me, he was hilarious. Scuttlefina was tolerable but gosh she’s always playing the same character, stop casting her in everything.

Less I say about Scuttlebutt the better. Kids are probably gonna love it, though.

The ending was kinda weird? It felt rushed and the battle with Ursula was disappointing. Which is a surprise because the OTHER stormy scene at night was wonderfully done.

Up to Ursula taking Ariel back to the ocean it felt really cohesive but the second Triton appears to save her it was like they were trying to speed things up and it got... weird.

Didn’t mind Ariel being the one that killed Ursula, after everything she put her through.

Cannot believe the movie robbed us of Jonah screaming “I lost her once, I’m not gonna lose her again!”

Overall it was a well paced (up to the finale), entertaining, charming movie. Despite its faults, the only Disney live action I want to rewatch (outside MAYBE Cinderella).

8/10 Justice for the foam dress.

#The Little Mermaid

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ladyveronikawrites · 4 months ago

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WIP: Kinktober Edition

COUNTDOWN TO KINKTOBER!

@sitkowski and I need a push to write for kinktober and we want to encourage those participating in Kinktober to do the same!

I will be sharing sneak peeks from both my Motionless in White Fics as well as Bad Omens- any and all kinktober related fics are welcome to participate!

MIW Kinktober 2024 Bad Omens Kinktober 2024

HOW IT WORKS (rules modified):

In a reblog of this post (so people can find you in the notes) or new thread (w/ rules attached) if you want to play on your own, post up to five (5) filenames of your WIPs; with pairings and kinks included. (You can post more if you are doing both BO and MIW kinktober - keep it to at most 5 files for each band you are participating in, no more than TEN(10) total.

Post a snippet from one of them. Snippet must be words you wrote in the last 7 days. We’re posting progress here. If you haven’t made any, go make some and come back to play!

After you’ve posted, people (any and all readers and writers!) can send you an ask with one of your file names. You must then write at least three NEW sentences as a reply to the ask.

That’s it! You can invite others to join in, or just post.

Friday 9 AM EST to Sunday 11:59EST

Have a question? my DMs are open, feel free to ask!

Please use appropriate warnings, tags, and 'read more' cuts in replies to asks

WHAT I'M WORKING ON

BAD OMENS

BRIDGE PART THREE (Omens! gang bang - leather fetish, boots)

You take his cock so well, doll You want another? (Ruffilo x Jolly x Noah x Reader - Sensory Deprivation, voice kink)

IMPOLITE PART FIVE (Noah x Jolly x oc - Service Submission, tasks, and assignments)

Puppy Play Date! (Pup!Noah x Pup!Folio x Owner!Ruffilo - collaring)

IF PAIN IS BEAUTY, I'M A PRETTY BITCH (Noah x FemDom OC Vivian - Chastity, Humiliation, Sissification//feminization)

MOTIONLESS IN WHITE

oh no, my boyfriend's a vampire (Chris x Nicky - vampire boyfriends/breath play)

Come on Chloe, It's just a haunted house (Stepbrother!Justin x Bio Brother’s Best Friend!Vinny x OC -boots/haunted house)

more cocks more fun right? (Chris x Justin x Rick x Ryan x vinny x oc - multiple penetration /voyeurism)

You got that dawg in you? (Owner!Ryan x Pup!Vinny x oc - tasks and assignments - body worship)

She's going to drive them wild (Chris x Rick x reader - leather/latex -femdom)

A little gift for you👑-You take his cock so well, doll You want another? Ruffilo x Jolly x Noah x Ruby

“Haven’t seen you in a while,” his familiar twang wraps around her like a warm blanket. She should probably be sobbing into her wine glass in a rose-scented bubble bath in the comfort of her home instead she replies with “Whiskey neat, double.”

“That kinda night?” he asks, sliding her the glass of liquor. Ruby just downs the drink and makes her way to the old jukebox in the corner of the bar. She scrolls through the CDs not really impressed with the selection.

ASK!

Writers and Readers are welcome to make requests for snippets of what you would like to see! You can ask for a moodboard too!

#wip weekend #bad omens fanfiction #motionless in white fanfiction #wip snippet #wip sneak peek #bad omens wip #motionless in white wip #bo wip #miw wip #Countdown to kinktober 2024 #kinktober2024

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littlefankingdom · 1 year ago

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I watched the One Piece live action and here are some notes I took.

I'm a huge One Piece fan since I was like 10-ish? And so, I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about it. It had a lot of impact on my personality (Nico Robin is my role model). This live action adaptation matters to me and I'm going to rant. Spoilers ahead.

The director is a woman, and one of the two writers is a woman. Manga and anime are male dominated hobby (and the comic's world is sexist), so the live action of the most popular shōnen being run by women is so great, imo. Also, it's pretty successful, in contrary to other attempts, so it's a win for women.

Garp's actor is a very handsome man. Wtf, they made Garp hot. He also has a beautiful Welsh accent, which is great because it's an accent that gives a "tough guy" impression. At least, it does for me.

Luffy's actor is perfect. This Luffy is slightly different from the original one, but he's perfect in his own way. I will die and kill for him. Also, him being brown with a white grandpa is so good, it had a racial gap between the two of them, where there are already a generational one and a moral one. Like, the white grandpa in the army do not understand how his brown grandson do not like the gov, because he doesn't see it from where he is when the kid does.

Alvida's actress is so beautiful, she's so pretty. I suddenly support women's wrongs.

Damn, the violence is going up a notch (Roger executed on screen, Mr 7's body cut in half, MERRY IS FUCKING KILLED,...)

The actors for Koby and Helmeppo are queer (They/Them pals) Oda is, once again, showing his support to the trans community.

I do not like the colors. It's too dark for One Piece, imo. Look at how saturated the colored pages are, I would have preferred it to be more saturated. I know, this is because of the CGI (issues are less perceptible this way), I'm going to need to make some edits. But, they didn't have to do it to the costumes too. Like, Buggy, except from his hat, his outfit is not flashy like it should be. Would help with the colored hair if it was more colorful and flashy.

Young Luffy wear the same shirt as in the manga is a nice touch.

THERE'S A CAVENDISH'S WANTED POSTER IN SHELLS TOWN!

Dead bodies smell strongly, and Zoro is bringing half of one in a bar???

Episode 2 is pure art. I love it so much.

Buggy is attractive, wtf. I find him more pretty than Shanks.

Bogard is so cool looking. I'm gonna die if Hina is introduced one day (she's going to be so cool)

They changed the "If you’re gonna point your gun toward someone, you better use it" scene. The new one is cool, but the original is iconic.

THE MUSIC WHEN LUFFY REALIZES THAT SHANKS LOST HIS ARM! It's like the orchestra is interrupted, incredible, love it.

Nami and Zoro's siblings' energy is so strong.

Kaya and Nami interraction about the dress "it belonged to my mother" is so good, Nami gets uncomfortable because she also lost her mother and knows how it is to cherish her memory. But Kaya is nice and share it with her, which break her view of rich folks.

The decor's department must have had the time of their life for this show. It's a great job.

Zoro wanting to wear black and drink wine in the 3 episode, he's already embodying being Mihawk's adopted brat.

Kaya makes the oof roblox sounds when she slapped Usopp.

Usopp x Kaya let's gooooooooooo my boy deserves the best (Oda confirming a romance with one of his protagonists is huge)

Zoro IMMEDIATELY trying to look at something else the moment Kaya kisses Usopp.

Luffy sitting on Going Merry with "We Are" playing... Art.

Without a cook, they are eating pasta, with some fruit and drink (just like me, fr).

Garp is wrecking a brand new ship!

Episode 5 Title Card, my beloved.

Mihawk music, and voice, and character: beautiful.

"Oh, I do like your hat." Mihawk to Luffy upon meeting him, great.

Sanji needs to stop talking about food, I'm getting hungry but I'm broke and a terrible cook.

"Oregano is for savages!" 😂 ok kiddo.

Me watching Zoro nap for a whole episode because of 1 cut: "Bro, you’re going to go through so much worse, you better stop whining rn"

The "YES, YES WE DO" after Sanji says "heard you guys need a cook" is so good.

Sanji is, like, the only one after Nami to have the most experience sailing, they fucking need him.

Buggy coming back all the time is perfect. Love him.

Having Bell-Mere slaps Nami was not ok. Y'all are ruining a character I loved.

Sanji knows a man that can cook well is attractive.

Usopp and Luffy are 17 and drinking, and Koby is 16. Underage drinking baby 🍻

Garp is already having the crisis he has during Marine Fort Arc, it’s going to be difficult for him.

Buggy be swinging being carried by Sanji, who's fighting.

Luffy breaking Arlong's sword axe thingy is badass.

The fishmen are so ugly and weird looking

Buggy saying "I'm gonna get out of here" with 🖕🤡🖕(If we ever get young Ace, I expect so much vulgarity from his little shit mouth)

Usopp exploding star was badass.

Sanji's ass after Mouton Shot.

Zoro "Yeah, you're gonna fit in just fine" means you're as crazy as all of us

Sanji opening is arms for Nami and Nami ignoring him to hug her bros, lol.

Arlong Park destruction be crazy.

Sanji little laugh.

Luffy is a true bestie to Usopp.

It’s the confrontation from after Seven Arc

It's Logue town after right? Like, where Luffy's father is introduced? With the comparison to Roger? But they just compared them, are they going to do it again?

The wanted poster is the exact same, with usopp in the background.

Employee of the month lol.

Alvida and Buggy meeting, the bad bitches.

Mihawk and Shanks!!! (Shanks gave him the "ableist pos" look, lol)

Smoker introduced -> Logue Town

#one piece #opla #opla spoilers #my ramblings #it's not understandable and I don't care

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lingthusiasm · 3 months ago

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Transcript Episode 96: Welcome back aboard the metaphor train!

This is a transcript for Lingthusiasm episode ‘Welcome back aboard the metaphor train!’. It’s been lightly edited for readability. Listen to the episode here or wherever you get your podcasts. Links to studies mentioned and further reading can be found on the episode show notes page.

[Music]

Lauren: Welcome to Lingthusiasm, a podcast that’s enthusiastic about linguistics! I’m Lauren Gawne.

Gretchen: I’m Gretchen McCulloch. Today, we’re getting enthusiastic about metaphors. But first, this episode was originally posted as a bonus episode in August of 2019.

Lauren: Ever since March 2017, we’ve been doing bonus episodes alongside main episodes every month for people who support us at the Lingthusiast level and above on Patreon. They’re our way of thanking people who support us on Patreon. As a show that doesn’t have sponsors or advertising, it’s your direct support that keeps the show going.

Gretchen: The good news is that we’re not part of some network that can just decide we’re not allowed to make the show anymore. When we first started the bonus episodes, they were a bit shorter than the main episodes because we wanted to make sure that it’d be sustainable to keep up a regular production schedule.

Lauren: You’d think after doing this show for eight years we would’ve made Lingthusiasm a lean and efficient production. And yet, it turns out, we still take a lot of time to put these episodes together because we just keep having higher standards.

Gretchen: Yeah. We definitely do a lot more research now because some of the early topics we covered were stuff that we already had a whole bunch of background on, and so we didn’t need to do quite as much digging into other sources and asking other people – our many linguist friends and colleagues – for their suggestions and input, which we do a lot more of now.

Lauren: This is also true for the bonuses. They went from being these 10-to-20 minutes on things like the linguistics of swearing or what we mean by the word “sandwich,” and then they very quickly – like, within about 12 months – became very similar to main episodes both in length and in structure and the amount of research that we do.

Gretchen: We do sometimes do a bonus episode that is a deep dive into a single research article, like the time we discussed Bill Labov sneaking a rabbit into a primary school.

Lauren: Hm, yes, classic.

Gretchen: Or the time we talked about the very classic salad-salad paper, which is about, you know when you have egg salad and potato salad and then “salad-salad.”

Lauren: We also have bonuses where we’ve done things like attempt to create a computer-generated transcript of Lingthusiasm with Janelle Shane, or we’ve done Q&A episodes. We have at least 90 bonus episodes available to you right now, which make a really fun catalogue of listening alongside the main episodes.

Gretchen: They can be a bit of a blast from the past if you go back to some of the very early ones. If you’re someone who’s always got a lot of podcast episodes on the back burner, and you don’t really need more listening material, but you’d just like to help us keep existing long into the future, we also really appreciate your support for whatever reason you wanna give it to us.

Lauren: We’re really proud of our bonus episodes, and we wanted to give them a bit more attention. We’ve taken this older bonus to share with you today.

Gretchen: Also, frankly, this gives us a bit of a break while still giving you something to listen to.

Lauren: Yeah, it’s nice to have a bit of a breather. We’ve been putting up monthly episodes since December 2016 and bonuses since March 2017. We’ve never even been a day late on those.

Gretchen: I’m very impressed by us, Lauren.

Lauren: We’ve definitely got into a good routine. We plan to continue sharing many more mains and bonuses with you. But it’s really fun to also get to revisit some of our older episodes.

Gretchen: Occasionally, building in a break into our production schedule is something that also helps us keep the show sustainable.

Lauren: This episode is all about how metaphors are something that is deeply embedded into the way we talk about everyday things. What’s one thing you noticed about re-listening to episode, Gretchen?

Gretchen: This metaphor episode aired right around the time that my book, Because Internet, was coming out. You can hear how I’m maybe a bit nervous about that.

Lauren: In fact, the original intro had a call to pre-order the book, which –

Gretchen: So, we’ve cut that.

Lauren: We’ve cut that because you can actually order it now.

Gretchen: That ship’s sailed. You can just buy it. It’s fine.

Lauren: It’s so funny to think that Because Internet has been out for five years. I mean, it’s also a complete testament to your work that it is so relevant after five years, which, is like, half-a-century in internet time.

Gretchen: Yeah. I’ve still seen people recommending Because Internet to each other, even just this week. There’s actually an extended metaphor in the final chapter of Because Internet about how we should think of language like a massive, collective, participatory project, like the internet itself, rather than as a book, which is static and unchanging. I can’t believe that past Gretchen didn’t think to give myself a plug in the previous version of this episode. What did you notice listening to this episode, Lauren?

Lauren: I was really confused how we got through a whole episode on metaphor, and we didn’t talk about metaphoric gestures, which is a whole category, and one that I’ve been obsessed with for a really long time.

Gretchen: Well, that may have been because we talked about gesture and metaphors two bonus episodes earlier in the interview with Alice Gaby.

Lauren: Ah, yeah. We talked about time and space metaphors, how time – which is not a thing you can easily pin down. We often use space to talk about it. In English, we talk about and we gesture about the past being “behind” us.

Gretchen: And we talk about looking “ahead” to the future. This pops up in a lot of Western cultures in speech, in gesture, and even in the way that signed languages in Western cultures construct how they do tense. ASL – American Sign Language – has the past behind us and the future ahead of us. So does LSF – French Sign Language. I haven’t checked all of the other signed languages in the LSF family because it’s a huge family, but this seems to be something that carries over from a similar cultural context.

Lauren: Yeah, it’s the same for Auslan and other signed languages related to BSL, which are not related to American Sign Language, but they share this cultural metaphor of the past behind you as an influence on the tense system. I mean, that’s not the case for all languages. There’s Aymara, which is spoken in the north of Chile and in bordering countries. In Aymara, there’s a metaphor about the past being in front of you.

Gretchen: Which, when you think about it, actually makes sense because you can see what’s already happened, and you can’t see what’s going to happen, so it makes sense to put that behind your head where you can’t see it, but that’s just not what we do in English and a lot of other Western cultures. I remember in that episode, we talked to Alice about her work with Kuuk Thayorre in Northern Queensland here in Australia, where their metaphor for time is that time moves from east to west, just like the sun.

Gretchen: Oh, that makes sense.

Lauren: But they don’t use it in their speech. They just use it in their gestures.

Gretchen: Oh, yeah, like how English speakers will gesture from left to right for a sequence of events, whereas speakers of languages that are written from right to left would gesture in the other direction.

Lauren: Yeah. There’s also evidence of Chinese speakers gesturing from top to bottom for time, especially discussing different generations in a family, which is part of the writing system influence on gesture.

Gretchen: It’s so interesting how metaphors get picked up and shared between cultures and how there are so many different levels of embedded metaphor in how humans do language. It was really fun to record this original episode, and absolutely a delight to revisit it.

Lauren: Just a quick note that this bonus is before we went through our second major round of updating our microphone situation for this show. Again, a nice way to look at how far we’ve come, look back to times before.

Gretchen: But at least it’s after the first time that we’ve updated our mic situation, which we would not subject you to. Both of those were thanks to patron support.

Lauren: If you want to get access to over 90 other bonus episodes like this one and many, many other topics, there’s a new bonus every month at patreon.com/lingthusiasm.

[Music]

Gretchen: “Lauren, look how far we’re come.”

Lauren: “Hm. I feel like we’re at a crossroads.”

Gretchen: “Are you saying we’ll just have to go our separate ways?”

Lauren: “I just feel like we can’t turn back now.”

Gretchen: “I don’t know if this relationship is going anywhere.”

Lauren: “This year has been a long and bumpy road.”

Gretchen: “It’s really a dead-end street.” [Laughter] Okay. So…

Lauren: How long do you think we can keep that up for?

Gretchen: We’re not breaking up the podcast. We’re not breaking up the band. Please don’t worry about this. We are merely exploring how you can use an extended metaphor to talk about a relationship as a physical journey.

Lauren: A metaphor is when you take features of one thing, and you apply them to something else – is the most basic way. Here, we’re talking about a podcasting friendship, but we’re using all of these features of a physical journey to talk about that.

Gretchen: Things like, “going anywhere,” “long, bumpy road,” “dead-end street,” “crossroads,” “turning back” – some of these are so engrained in the way we talk about relationships with people that you don’t even necessarily think of them as metaphors anymore. Something like “Look how far we’ve come” or “We’ll have to go our separate ways” is technically a metaphor. Going different ways is a physical thing you can do. But it’s so engrained in the way we talk about emotional relationships, or friendships, or these kinds of things that we don’t even necessarily think about them as a metaphor.

Lauren: Yeah. I mean, I’m still gonna be here in Melbourne. You’re still gonna be in Montreal. If we were to quote-unquote “go our separate ways,” we would not change anything about our physical location.

Gretchen: In fact, if we were to go in different directions, we would, statistically, probably end up closer together on this physical Earth-orb.

Lauren: Closer together, yeah.

Gretchen: Just saying.

Lauren: We’re so used to thinking in metaphors. I think this idea of extended metaphors – I think when I learnt about metaphors in high school, it was like you do one clever thing in one sentence with some words. But, actually, the thing I love about metaphors is that they are kinda pervasive in the way that we think.

Gretchen: Yeah. I remember learning “My love is a red, red rose” or something like this and thinking, “Okay. Well, that’s fine. I guess this poet’s gonna do this.” But the kind that are really fascinating are the ones that we use every day without even thinking about them as much. Do we wanna do a bit of etymology?

Lauren: Yeah. I think so.

Gretchen: “Metaphor” comes via French via Latin from the Greek “metapherein,” meaning “transfer” – from “meta-,” which means “over,” and “-pherein,” which means “to bear or to carry.” The “meta-” also shows up in other prefix like “metaphysics,” which is like “over physics.” Or sometimes you talk about something being very “meta.” It’s beyond the literal sense. “-Pherein” meaning “carry” shows up in –

Lauren: Oh, like “transfer.”

Gretchen: Well, that’s the Latinate equivalent. “-Pherein” shows up in other words like “paraphernalia,” which are the extra things you carry around with you. Or “semaphore.”

Lauren: “Semaphore” like the flags?

Gretchen: Yeah. Like the flags, which I guess are probably signs that you carry.

Lauren: Hmm.

Gretchen: It’s less-directly related to F-E-R in Latin, as in “transfer” itself. A metaphor carries something over – carries an idea over – from one domain to another and often from a concrete domain to a more abstract domain.

Lauren: This goes back to one of our favourite themes on the show, which is the idea that humans are just giant meat puppets and language is always kind of tied to the very physical-ness of our human bodies.

Gretchen: Even when we’re talking about really abstract ideas, it’s easier to do so if we evoke very physical things in the world.

Lauren: You find that a lot of the metaphors have a consistent – especially, even if you look cross-culturally, there’s some variation. We’ll talk about that. But overall, there’s these common features where, if something is good, it’s upwards, and bad is downwards. Happy is upwards and sad is downwards. There’s this kind of correlation between this, and it has to do with the fact that we are bipedal and vertical beings.

Gretchen: We have to struggle against gravity. If you managed to succeed against gravity and stand up, that’s probably good. If you’re lying flat on the ground, maybe you’re dead or something. Another one that I really like is phrases like “to grasp” a concept or “to gather” what you’ve understood. That uses a physical action of picking up or holding something as a metaphor for understanding something.

Lauren: Again, ideas are very vague and abstract. And so we turn ideas into physical concepts, like little physical blocks. I can “give” you this idea. Or we could “put” all our ideas together.

Gretchen: Or sometimes we use sight to talk about ideas – I “see” what you mean or that sounds “clear” to me. Those are using a different metaphor to talk about a similar domain because ideas are very abstract. I had a really fun experience a few months ago when I learned that the German word “wichtig,” which I’d always had trouble remembering, means “important.” That’s fine. They clearly didn’t borrow it from Latin and French like English did. But I always was like, “Okay, ‘wichtig.’ That sounds like it should have some sort of word that’s related to it in English,” but that word that I think of it being related to in English is definitely not anything sounding like “important.” Then I learned that it could also be translated as “heavy,” which is also “gewichtig,” which thereby makes it cognate with “weighty.”

Lauren: Ooo, a “weighty” idea.

Gretchen: Yeah. A “weighty” idea is an important idea, right?

Lauren: That sits really well with me.

Gretchen: Exactly. And even if I wouldn’t necessarily talk about a weighty idea myself, I can use that as a memory peg for “Oh, ‘wichtig.’ Something’s a weighty idea – it’s important.” Or a person is “wichtig” – they’re weighty. They’re important. They’ve got dignitas and gravitas they’re bringing to the room.

Lauren: We are absolutely by no means the first people to observe these features of metaphors as being very grounded in our experience and kind of extended across lots of little examples mapping onto this one big idea. This is something that’s come out of a field called “cognitive semantics.” George Lakoff is one of the key practitioners. You may have heard of him. He likes to do public commentary on big cultural metaphors a lot. But lots of people have been working on this over the years – documenting or looking at these pervasive metaphors, looking at how they vary across cultures. One of my absolutely favourite things about this area is a study by Gentner & Gentner from 1982 that shows how not only do these metaphors exist in our brain, but they can affect the way we think about and process information in the world. They had a study where they were teaching people how electric circuits work. They had two different metaphors. The first is moving people through a series of passages.

Gretchen: So, tunnels like you might send people down to the subway in our something like that?

Lauren: Yeah. That was your wires – your courses or passages. And then your –

Gretchen: Electrons?

Lauren: Electrons are little people. And then the current is how many people can go through the passage. Voltage is how many people are pushing. You map those things. They taught a whole bunch of people that metaphor for how an electric circuit works. Then, they taught a different group of people a metaphor for electric circuits on a hydraulic water-pumping system.

Gretchen: So, now your pipes are your wires, and the water is your electrons or something.

Lauren: Yep. Then, the flow rate of the water is the current – as opposed to the flow rate of people. Once they taught them these metaphors – you kind of figured them out as soon as I said them. They have obvious mappings between the original domain and these areas that they were using as metaphors. Once they taught people the metaphors, they got them to think about electrical systems using the metaphors – things like serial versus parallel battery configurations, which is definitely a thing I remember learning about in high school physics. Don’t really remember the science behind –

Gretchen: I don’t think I did. If I did, I don’t remember it. But I don’t even know if I ever learned it.

Lauren: They found that – because the way batteries are cabled up, if you have them all lined up together or you have them all coming off different cables and coming back, it affects how things like voltage and resistance work. If people learnt the flowing water metaphor, they could figure out the better outcome of how that works. Having the water pumped through different pumps was a better analogy for batteries. But if you’re looking at serial versus parallel resistor configurations – and who amongst us has not? –

Gretchen: Me, actually.

Lauren: – the crowed passages of people actually gave you a better metaphor for correctly predicting what would happen in that circumstance.

Gretchen: Oh, that’s interesting. Different metaphors can help you reason about different domains.

Lauren: Yeah. But a metaphor can only take you so far, right? Even though both of them are pretty good metaphors, and you could figure them out even without knowing a whole lot about how electrical systems worked –

Gretchen: And definitely not know anything about resistors or batteries.

Lauren: – the metaphor can only go so far.

Gretchen: Yeah. Right. That makes sense. I mean, we do this sometimes when we’re coming up with episode topics. We’ll say, “Okay. We’re gonna need a metaphor to talk about verbs. What are some physical objects that have similar properties to the things that we wanna talk about with respect to verbs?” or with respect to sounds or various other types of pieces in language, which can be fairly abstract, to say, “Let’s give people a very concrete object that they can touch, or they can visualise, and have some sense of how it works.”

Lauren: We spent ages with the coat rack one, which was explaining how verbs help structure sentences. We kept stress-testing the metaphor.

Gretchen: I remember that one because we recorded that episode when I was visiting you in Australia. I remember we went for a walk the day before we recorded it saying, “We need a metaphor. Let’s talk through a bunch of different possibilities. What are some things that have multiple relationships with each other?” I ended up being very pleased with the coat rack metaphor in that episode, but it took us walking through a bunch of different metaphors. I know we rejected the verb is like the skeleton and the other parts of the sentence are like body parts that can hang onto that because one of the big problems –

Lauren: You can rearrange coat racks much easier than you can rearrange human skeletons.

Gretchen: We really didn’t want to go super gruesome, even though sometimes a skeleton is used as a metaphor like, “This is the backbone of the industry,” or “The skeleton key can open different things” – something like that. A skeleton is sometimes used as a metaphor in a non-gruesome sense, but in this particular context, we really wanted to talk about things going on and off. It was just gonna end up really bloody.

Lauren: The thing I found fascinating is we recorded that whole episode, and we actually had different physical coat racks in our minds.

Gretchen: Because you had the coat rack in your mind that’s the kind that you hang against the wall?

Lauren: No, I had the freestanding coat rack.

Gretchen: You had the freestanding one. Maybe I had the one hanging against the wall. I kind of had both maybe.

Lauren: Turns out Gretchen’s idea of a coat rack is much more fast-and-loose than mine. I had a very specific physical model in my head when I was building the metaphor.

Gretchen: Well, because I think I call a “coat rack” – it has to be hanging against the wall. Versus the other kind I call a “hall tree” or a “coat tree.”

Lauren: That’s a cute metaphor.

Gretchen: Yeah! It’s also a metaphor. Look at that! But it doesn’t really matter because, in the end, the thing that was relevant of “How many hooks do you have?” and these kinds of things was sufficiently parallel for the particular thing that we were talking about. There are actually people whose professional job it is to design metaphors.

Lauren: That’s a pretty fun job.

Gretchen: It always seems like a very cool job to me. One of them is Michael Erard, who works for The Frameworks Institute as a professional metaphor designer. I think that was an institution that Lakoff founded, right?

Lauren: Yeah. He’s definitely involved in some way. I think he founded it.

Gretchen: One of the examples of a metaphor that they designed at Frameworks was looking at children’s executive function – how your brain is organised and how much you control how you do things – as if it’s air traffic control for your brain. Air traffic controllers are obviously those people who are telling the airplanes when they can come down. The insight that they had from this was, yes, it’s important to be organised – and training and runway space is also important – but, ultimately, there can also only be so many planes in the air or you just overload your brain’s air traffic controllers. If you’re wondering why children are frustrated and unable to do all the things they want to do, maybe they could just only keep so many planes in the air. You can support that to a certain extent by improving their organisational skills, but you can’t expect people to keep more planes in the air than they’re capable of doing.

Lauren: Yeah. In order to sell this metaphor, they had to do what we do for the episodes. They kind of test them and make sure that all the implications of the metaphor aren’t potentially problematic.

Gretchen: There was another metaphor that I remember reading Michael Erard criticising, which was there was some sort of metaphor about dandelion children versus orchid children.

Lauren: Oh, dear.

Gretchen: The problem with this metaphor is, is that, okay, these are two different flowers. People know what these flowers are.

Lauren: I’m trying really hard to sit here and be like “Dandelion children are… yellow?” No, because you get yellow orchids. Do you get yellow orchids?

Gretchen: Dandelion children supposedly, according to this metaphor, can kind of bloom wherever they’re planted, whereas orchid children require more delicate care and feeding – or delicate emotional attention.

Lauren: Oh, I was thinking of irises.

Gretchen: In theory, this is a useful distinction. But the problem is, is that people have very different values associated with dandelions versus orchids. So, everyone’s like, “Oh, great. I want my kid to be an orchid kid.” And that was actually what they were trying to call attention to as like, “It’s dangerous for your kid to be an orchid kid. How can we create more dandelions?” because dandelions thrive everywhere.

Lauren: In my brain it’s like “weed children” versus “ugly children.”

Gretchen: Yeah. I mean, some people like orchids, Lauren. The problem was most people, on average, like orchids more than they like dandelions. Even though the metaphor kind of works from a characteristic property sense, I guess, it also comes with a value judgement that ultimately made it not a very good metaphor for trying to help people improve their parenting practices.

Lauren: Was also ignoring a lot of other characteristics.

Gretchen: Yeah. Like, “Make your child more like a dandelion and less like an orchid” is a really hard sell to parents.

Lauren: Every time I think of orchids, I think of people using little spray bottles. Now, I’m thinking of people spray-bottling their children.

Gretchen: They’re very finicky. They grow in these greenhouses and stuff like that, whereas dandelions will just grow in the cracks in the sidewalk. You can see why maybe you want your kid to be able to bloom wherever they’re planted. That sounds like a good idea. And yet, orchids are just so rare and valuable that this also seems like a really good idea. One better metaphor that I actually heard Michael Erard talk about at the polyglot conference in New York City a number of years ago was that he came up with a new metaphor for language learning. He said that it’s developing a complex skill like weaving a rope. In this metaphor, a good rope has many strands, which have to be woven together tightly in order for the rope to be strong. The strands and the techniques of weaving the rope are like the skills that you begin with, and that you learn, and you develop as you’re doing it. But the rope won’t weave itself. It’s not just you learn the language and it’s done. It’s that you’re building up all of these different stands and putting them together and that you have a lot of time and effort going into putting it together. Once it’s complete, the rope is a useable thing – a tool. You can do something with language when you’ve learned it. But some people think of learning a language as like filling a bucket or something. You poured in the language and there it is. You never have to do anything else. This idea emphasising the process and all of the different steps of learning a language could be useful to people thinking about their own language learning more productively.

Lauren: Nice. I like that metaphor.

Gretchen: It’s quite nice. Because I think, as linguists, we often face the “How many languages do you know?” question. And the “know” implies that there’s an endpoint. If you talk about weaving a rope, it’s very clear that there isn’t one logical size of rope that then you have the rope – that a rope can be infinitely long, in theory.

Lauren: Yeah. I now just have a few strings of Polish.

Gretchen: Exactly. You can conceive of having different amounts of – or like, I have some raggedy old whatever language that I’ve forgotten, or I’ve just acquired the shiny new string of another language.

Lauren: We’ve talked a lot so far about metaphors being shared in a particular group of people. When you have the cultural references, “dandelion children” versus “orchid children” make sense. But even as someone who is ostensibly from the culture that that metaphor was designed for, I failed. When you look across cultures, you do get culturally grounded knowledge that’s required to understand metaphors. I teach this with a metaphor from the Songhai language in Mali. I want you to see what you can make of this metaphor, Gretchen.

Gretchen: Okay.

Lauren: “The words of the elders are like the droppings of the hyena.”

Gretchen: Okay. I’ve definitely never seen hyena droppings. But “words of the elders” are probably good, right? So, that must mean that there’s cultural things the droppings of the hyena are also good, which means that I’m reasoning from the abstract to the concrete domain rather than the other way around, which is presumably what this metaphor actually wants me to be doing.

Lauren: You’re back-logic-ing.

Gretchen: Yeah. If I’m thinking of the droppings of a bear or a deer or something, which is an animal that I’m more familiar with, you could use those to tell where they’re going and maybe be better at hunting them. It gives you information and clues and stuff. So, maybe that’s also what they think about the hyena droppings?

Lauren: I mean, I guess the first thing is that equating anything with poo is generally seen as negative in our culture.

Gretchen: Right. I was trying to be positive because presumably they’re not like, “Oh, those elders. They’re talking such bull” – you know.

Lauren: Bull poo.

Gretchen: BS.

Lauren: The culturally relevant knowledge that you need here – or the locally relevant knowledge that you don’t have – is that hyena droppings are opaque and cloudy when they’re first done, and then they kind of become see-through and transparent. I don’t know how this works. But this is apparently a fact.

Gretchen: This is not a chemistry podcast.

Lauren: And so the words of the elders are initially unclear and opaque, but like a good prophesy, they become clearer – or their wisdom becomes clearer – over time.

Gretchen: Oh! That’s really good. That’s really elegant.

Lauren: Yeah. It is a really elegant metaphor but only if you know how hyena droppings work.

Gretchen: Which clearly, I didn’t know. I was just trying to base that on other droppings of other animals, which don’t have this very specific, translucifying property.

Lauren: I think metaphors are always one of those – there are sentences when I’ve learnt languages where it’s like, “I understand each one of these words. I don’t really know what this sentence means,” because metaphors are definitely some of those more elaborate rope-weaving parts of the language learning process – to borrow Michael Erard’s metaphor.

Gretchen: Understanding the literal words doesn’t necessarily mean you have the cultural context. Sometimes, it’s a cultural reference like if you’re making some sort of “Oh, this is from a game show 30 years ago that everyone used to watch and we still make this reference,” but actually if you haven’t seen this gameshow, you don’t know that that’s where it’s coming from or something like that.

Lauren: I think also we’ve talked a lot about – that metaphors are kind of persistent and they have these big, extended uses. But just because we have a cognitive image of how things map from one domain to the other doesn’t mean that we don’t mess them up.

Gretchen: And people do mess them up. This is known sometimes as a “malaphor,” which is like a metaphor but gone bad – specifically named often the Dickensian character Mrs. Malaprop, who used to get words mixed up. But also just “mal-” in general is bad. You get things like, “I wouldn’t trust him with a tent-foot pole.”

Lauren: Oh, no! That’s combining “I wouldn’t trust him as far as I could throw him.”

Gretchen: Yeah.

Lauren: And “I wouldn’t touch him with a ten-foot pole.”

Gretchen: Yes. Then you end up with “I wouldn’t trust him with a ten-foot pole,” which you could say, but it’s not an existing metaphor in our culture.

Lauren: But it’s actually quite satisfying because it combines both of them.

Gretchen: Exactly. I’ve got a list of some of these malaphors. If you, Lauren, would like to try to identify what the original metaphors are. Or we can go back and forth if you want because maybe –

Lauren: Yeah. Let’s do that. If you’re playing along at home, you can get your phone or your computer out and hit the pause button and argue away with people that you’re listening with.

Gretchen: Yeah. See if you can guess before us. Okay. Do you wanna go first then?

Lauren: Sure. “Don’t judge a book before it’s hatched.”

Gretchen: Ah! This is definitely true about my book. Okay. I think that’s combining “Don’t judge a book by its cover” and “Don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched.” What about “Every cloud has a silver spoon in its mouth”?

Lauren: Oh, this is riffing on “silver” for both of them, I think, because it’s “Every cloud has a silver lining,” which means that even bad things can have good bits to them. And if someone’s born with a silver spoon in their mouth – which I used to imagine literally. The problem with metaphors. But it just means that they are super fancy.

Gretchen: You mean your baby was not born with a silver spoon in its mouth?

Lauren: Thankfully.

Gretchen: Yes. I think that’s what those are.

Lauren: “It’s not rocket surgery.”

Gretchen: I think that’s pretty easy, right? “It’s not rocket science” and “It’s not brain surgery.” I guess you could also have “It’s not brain science.” That’s not quite as catchy.

Lauren: Doesn’t quite capture it, does it?

Gretchen: “You can’t teach a leopard new spots.”

Lauren: Ah. “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” but “You can’t change a leopard’s spots.”

Gretchen: Yeah.

Lauren: That one’s a really elaborate mashup.

Gretchen: That one’s pretty elaborate.

Lauren: “The train has left the frying pan.”

Gretchen: “The train has left the station.” And I guess “Out of the frying pan into the fire” or something?

Lauren: Yeah. So, the train is on its way to the fire, I guess, is the visual image we’ve got going here.

Gretchen: Yeah. “Until the cows come home to roost.”

Lauren: “Until the cows come home.” Is that a thing?

Gretchen: Yeah.

Lauren: And your “Chickens come home to roost.”

Gretchen: Yeah. I think “Until the cows come home” is like, “We’ll be talking about this until the cows come home” – like forever. And then the “Chickens come home to roost” is another farm metaphor.

Lauren: I guess we should say that malaphors also just encompass general aphorisms and sayings which may not actually be metaphors in the way we always think about them. But they’re all grouped in together like this.

Gretchen: And because they’re so fun to look at.

Lauren: And because they’re so fun, we’re just gonna share a few more. “Until the pigs freeze over.”

Gretchen: Oh, this is good. This is “Until pigs fly” with “Until hell freezes over.” I guess you could also do “Until hell flies,” but I don’t know if that works as well. “It’ll be a walk in the cake.”

Lauren: See, this combines “It’ll be a walk in the park” with “It’ll be a cake walk.” And a “cake walk” is a thing I do not know what it is, but I know that it means that it will be easy.

Gretchen: When I was in school, they used to do cake walks sometimes as charity fund raisers.

Lauren: What was that?

Gretchen: They weren’t especially easy. I don’t know if this is the only kind of cake walk there is. But they were kind of like musical chairs, but the last person left would win a cake, basically.

Lauren: Oh. Combines a thing I hate – musical chairs – with a thing I love – winning cakes. It also shows how idioms and metaphors can contain fossilised knowledge that we now no longer have.

Gretchen: Yeah. Exactly.

Lauren: A cake walk is now more common in a saying than an actual event – in my life. Although not in yours, apparently.

Gretchen: We also get, in addition to the very tightly mixed up malaphors, you get longer mixed metaphors, which is when you end up with two metaphors referring to the same thing. Ideas can be both things you grasp and also things you see but mixing them in a way that seems sort of weird. Something like “If we can hit that bullseye, then the rest of the dominos will fall like a house of cards. Checkmate!” You’ve got a whole bunch of different game metaphors all stacked up on top of each other that each of them would work individually, but together they end up with a really confusing set of imagery.

Lauren: Should say that was Futurama character Zapp Brannigan, known for being a bit of a dolt. That was a very deliberately constructed mixed metaphor.

Gretchen: Yes, that’s true. I mean, this tends to happen with maybe only two examples in a more realistic sense.

Lauren: I guess it shows how the brain can kind of operate with different metaphors happening at the same time.

Gretchen: Can we end this episode with my very favourite metaphor pun?

Lauren: Yes, please!

Gretchen: “Metaforce be with you!”

[Music]

Lauren: For more Lingthusiasm and links to all the things mentioned in this episode, go to lingthusiasm.com. You can listen to us on all the podcast platforms or lingthusiasm.com. You can get transcripts of every episode on lingthusiasm.com/transcripts. You can follow @lingthusiasm on all the social media sites. You can get scarves with lots of linguistics patterns on them including IPA, branching tree diagrams, bouba and kiki, and our favourite esoteric Unicode symbols, plus other Lingthusiasm merch – like our “Etymology isn’t Destiny” t-shirts and aesthetic IPA posters – at lingthusiasm.com/merch. My social media and blog is Superlinguo.

Gretchen: Links to my social media can be found at gretchenmcculloch.com. My blog is AllThingsLinguistic.com. My book about internet language – now somehow five years old – is Because Internet. Lingthusiasm is able to keep existing thanks to the support of our patrons. If you wanna get an extra Lingthusiasm episode to listen to every month, our entire archive of bonus episodes – like this one – to listen to right now, or if you just wanna help keep the show running ad-free, go to patreon.com/lingthusiasm or follow the links from our website. Patrons can also get access to our Discord chatroom to talk with other linguistics fans and be the first to find out about new merch and other announcements. Recent bonus topics include playful mishearing like spoonerisms –

Lauren: You mean “roonerspisms.”

Gretchen: – Mondegreens and eggcorns, as well as an episode on comparatives and superlatives –

Lauren: The best.

Gretchen: – and an episode on “do support.”

Lauren: “I don’t mind if I do.”

Gretchen: Can’t afford to pledge? That’s okay, too. We also really appreciate it if you can recommend Lingthusiasm to anyone in your life who’s curious about language.

Lauren: Lingthusiasm is created and produced by Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne. Our Senior Producer is Claire Gawne, our Editorial Producer is Sarah Dopierala, our Production Assistant is Martha Tsutsui-Billins, and our Editorial Assistant is Jon Kruk. Our music is “Ancient City” by The Triangles.

Gretchen: Stay lingthusiastic!

[Music]

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

#linguistics #lingthusiasm #language #podcast #podcasts #episodes #transcripts #metaphors #malaphors #episode 96 #semantics #bonus updgrade #choo choo!

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anerdinallherglory · 11 months ago

Text

Approaching Sun (37)

CW/Important Note, PLEASE READ: There are two versions of this chapter. This is the edited, non-explicit version. This version is a more poetic, fade-to-black version that adheres to site rules and guidelines. I also wanted to respect readers on these platforms who have not been following me under the impression that this is mature fic, because its original rating is not M. With that being said, there are still implied parts in this chapter that may be sensitive to some readers, so skip ahead, if that is you.

If you would like to read the full, unedited, absolutely unhinged-in-how-filthy-it-is version, visit my linktree (https://linktr.ee/anerdinallherglory) to find the fic on AO3, where appropriate tags will be used. After reading the tags, you may have decided not to pursue reading that M version. Some may ask why I decided to write an alternate version, and I’m going to say that writing from Sasuke’s, a male’s perspective, seemed a little less delicate than Sakura’s, and after reading it several times, I decided that this version only belonged on AO3 where readers could read the tags and then choose which one to read. The only part that is different is how detailed the descriptions go. I do believe that many would prefer this edited version, but I could be completely wrong for some.

As always, thank you for reading. Happy early Valentine’s Day. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Here is a visual for the chapter.

Pairing: SasuSaku

Previous Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36

Chapter 37: Stars and Orbits

The location that Sasuke sought was something he had stumbled upon once on his mission between villages, concealed by pools of shallow water at the base. Now, in the darkness, the cave was near impossible for anyone to locate. Once inside the dense cover of forest, Sasuke had led them directly toward one of the many tree-covered mountains, the one with the fracture in the side that hid behind dense foliage. The falling rain had created flood waters and the shallow brook that Sasuke remembered was now rapidly flowing into the mouth of the cave, disappearing completely, and only Sasuke knew where it came out on the other side.

The darkness around them had faded infinitesimally, just enough that Sasuke realized night would soon give way to the faded in-between of dusk and dawn. But Sasuke was determined to have both he and his teammate safely tucked away into the mountain’s embrace before any sort of light could reveal them to any potential followers; Sasuke was fairly confident that there weren’t any left in the near vicinity that he hadn’t already dealt with, but he wasn’t going to take the chance anyway—not with both he and Sakura’s depleted chakra levels. And so, he jumped into the rushing waters that had turned into a lapping stream, a tongue snaking out from the sideways mouth of the cave.

“What are you doing?” Sakura whispered loudly over the roaring sounds of the water and Sasuke could sense her reluctance to follow his lead, most likely not wanting to subject herself to any further waterlogging.

“It’s a cave,” he informed her, digging his feet deeply into the rocky bed beneath his feet, stretching his arm up to offer her assistance, which she immediately denied to Sasuke’s extreme annoyance. Fine, he thought to himself. He was fine with her indignation because he was just as pissed off as she was. “We are going to have to swim through the entrance to get inside, so there’s no point to waste chakra trying to walk on it just yet.”

As Sakura slid into the black water, tightening her eyes at the shock of cold, the stream swelled up to her chest, pushing her tired body toward him in a jerk before her feet finally reached the bottom. “A cave? Won’t it be flooded?”

“No,” he answered. “Not dangerously so, at least.” He offered no further explanation before allowing the pull of the water to guide him the rest of the way to the entrance. Just before committing himself to the dark fissure in the mountain’s side, the open grin of the cave, Sasuke turned and grabbed Sakura’s uninjured hand and lifted her arm straight up above her head. “The ceiling will lower. Keep your arm extended so you know when you must go all the way under water. I’ll be in front of you, so stay close.”

Sakura’s eyes widened at this revelation before frowning at his command, and when Sasuke realized his teammate’s unbending anger towards him was going to prevent her from asking him any questions, Sasuke pushed forward into the all-consuming blackness.

The rumble of the water draining into the crevices of the cave was deafening and almost more distracting than the coolness of the water itself, and Sasuke took a minute to be grateful that they were in the dregs of late summer, otherwise they would be wading in critically low temperatures. The narrow entrance scuffed against Sasuke’s single palm as he dragged it along the side of the craggy tunnel. He could hear Sakura’s quick breathing behind him as she followed him, staying close enough where their bodies still brushed one another occasionally.

When his fingers brushed against the ceiling, Sasuke turned back to Sakura who had been following him in silence for the last fifteen minutes. They bumped together in the dark and Sakura brushed his side with her hand. It was terrifying and disorienting, how unreliable it felt to be this cut off from light. And yet, not even the darkness could dim her presence to Sasuke, that hyperawareness he had for her wherever she was in a room even if he didn’t know she would be there. His eyes would find her, his body would move in her direction, his soul would reach out as if hers were doing the same. He didn’t need the daylight to see her.

“This is the narrowest part,” he told her emotionlessly, preparing her for the dive that was to come. “It opens back up in about ten meters. Just hold your breath and keep swimming.”

She didn’t respond, only continued to breath raggedly in exhaustion. Even though he was angry, so damn angry with her, that he too, only wanted to give her a stony silence in return, his concern for her in this situation overrode all of that. “Did you hear me?” he hissed in frustrated urgency and Sakura’s echoing, emotionless “yes,” was the only confirmation he needed before he inhaled sharply, filling his lungs to capacity, and diving.

The vacuum of the current was stronger than Sasuke had anticipated as he felt forward with his arm. Water relentlessly pushed him forward and his knee met a sharp rock, and he grunted underwater as he pushed off of it, hoping Sakura’s smaller frame would avoid her any collisions. His lungs began to burn just when his fingers grasped for the ceiling and found it open. He took a huge gulp of air as he met the surface and immediately ducked back under, waiting and waiting in nervous anticipation before Sakura’s outstretched hand collided with him and he pulled her up with him. Her gasp of air, evidence of her safety, was just as relieving as Sasuke’s own inhaled breath. His body needed it just as much to keep going.

“There’s a drop,” Sasuke spoke quickly, the water still relentlessly tugging their bodies forward toward the cliff-like edge he remembered standing at once before as he looked down at the chasm below with a fireball sailing down to meet the bottom. Now, he only had memory and darkness to rely on in order to spare his chakra. Sasuke held Sakura’s body to him as they drifted. His stubborn pink-haired partner resisted his hold initially until his words registered, and he felt her arms cling tightly in response to his shoulders. With the standstill between them, Sasuke only had a second to hold her before they were freefalling.

Sasuke fell back-first over the drop, tucking Sakura tight against him, before spinning the both of them until his feet hit the surface of the lake below. He landed lightly despite the force of gravity from such a height, his weight distributing easily across the water as he pushed against it with his waning chakra. “Can you sta—” he began to ask Sakura, but she pulled away from him as soon as they landed, finding her own chakra-enhanced footing.

“I can take care of myself,” she reminded him, walking forward in the darkness as if she were the one who knew where to go. Her words carried the weight of their impending argument, the temporary peace between them coming to a swift and immediate end.

“I know you can,” Sasuke hissed as he pursued her footsteps in the dark. “You can stop trying to prove it to me, now.”

She spun to him and Sasuke felt her body accidentally crash with his and repel from him all within a millisecond, like two colliding ninja in battle. “Then why did you follow me? You didn’t think I could handle this on my own?”

Sasuke ground his teeth, because that just wasn’t it. It wasn’t that he doubted her abilities. She had proven herself more than capable—multiple times, in fact, in the last two months. During her most recent encounter with the anti-peace members in the desert after Mako had kidnapped her, Sasuke had arrived post-battle, the pieces of Sakura’s aftermath scattered among the sand like inconsequential annoyances. And tonight, when Sasuke had finally reached her after deposing of an obscure number of pursuers, he had stood on the edge of the clearing, watching her engage in hand-to-hand combat, the black dye of her hair running down her skin like the war paint of the Anbu Black Ops. Seeing her in combat, Sasuke had held himself back with all the willpower belonging to his being contrary to his instincts to act. He hadn’t wanted to intervene, hadn’t wanted to interrupt Sakura’s process because he knew she could easily handle the three ninja who fought with her. He had every intention to watch and let her handle them her way. That was until that last bastard trailed a blade up her stomach and used his own fingers to trace swirls into her skin with the red of her own blood. Not even the most controlled of men would have sat by and watched such an offense against their loved one—watch their woman be violated in any way—and Sasuke… he was not a controlled man. He was the opposite of that. He was an Uchiha who loved.

“Your silence speaks what you won’t say to my face,” Sakura whispered, disappointment replacing her ire in a moment of transparency.

Sasuke brushed past her, fisting her arm in the dark and guiding her over to the precipice of land that jutted out of the lake like a domed table. When Sakura’s feet met the rock-strewn beach, she stumbled in the dark and Sasuke held her more firmly as he, too, struggled to find even footing. Jumping to the top of the table-like plateau, Sasuke reached down and grabbed Sakura’s hand to pull her up behind him, but her hand was slick with the blood of her injury, and she threw her other hand up to grab his wrist to accommodate. Exhausted, the both of them fell back on their backsides and scooted away from the edge.

Feeling the stickiness of blood against his palm, Sasuke frowned. “Why aren’t you healing yourself?” he asked irritably, his carefully concealed anger similarly bleeding out in his tone.

Sakura’s own annoyance was evident in her response, an edged stillness that might have cut Sasuke as deep as any wound might had she meant to do damage with her words. “I have to reserve my chakra. I’m channeling to Katsuyu.”

Sasuke almost told her how annoying she was when she neglected herself, but he refrained, knowing that it would open the floodgate between them. Instead, Sasuke found himself reaching until he found her injured hand. He pulled at Sakura’s resisting palm until he held it out between them, a restorative green globe beginning to radiate from his own hand. They both squinted at the sudden flare of light, a speck in the immense blackness around them, and their dilated pupils suddenly constricted at the emerald glow. The circumference of light was no larger than that of a candle and the roaring cave swallowed the light hungrily beyond their bodies.

Sakura fisted her hand and looked away from him. “Leave it. Save what little chakra you have left.”

Sasuke ignored the command and his irritation momentarily faltered at the redness in her eyes that he could see over the dome of light between them, the tears she held back there. She was desperately trying not to cry at the misunderstanding of Sasuke not having faith in her regardless of his previous reassurances.

“It has nothing to do with doubting you,” he whispered, answering her question from moments ago. He tried his best to conceal his anger with her, but every word still came out sounding clipped, sounding cross. “You can tell me to stay away. You can trick me and leave me without chakra. You can leave me a damn goodbye letter telling me you love me in case you die.” Sakura sucked in a breath as her skin slowly knitted back together, sewn with the needle of Sasuke’s chakra. “You could be the strongest ninja in the shinobi world, but I am still going to go after you, Sakura.”

“But you have your own mission—The Otsusuki Race—” she began as Sasuke’s hand released her palm, moving down along her arm until he was pulling the fabric of her shirt up and away from the assaulting crooked line of the cut to her flesh. She sucked in a breath when he did so, reacting more so to his touch than the pain of it. She leaned back on to her arms as he hovered his glowing chakra across her abdomen.

Sasuke’s white-hot anger returned just looking at the damage, and he took a steadying breath as he passed his glowing palm along the gash. When his chakra met her injury, Sakura stopped speaking altogether as she inhaled a sharp gasp of pain.

“—can wait their turn,” Sasuke finished for her. “I still have time to hunt them down. Your enemies are also mine. Just like I told you back in the Sand Village, I can help you take care of these guys first.” The words were edged, punishing, even though he knew that he had absolutely no right to emphasize those words after years of rejecting her offer to help him with his goals. But he was trying, wasn’t he? Sasuke had let her come with him. He had let her help him just as she had wanted. But she didn’t want it to go both ways?! Or was it that Sakura didn’t believe that Sasuke wanted it to go both ways? What would they be able to accomplish as a unified force if they stopped this tug of war between each other of whose enemies were whose and what missions were hers or his?

Sakura’s eyes found his in the dimming light and she finally pushed his hand away. He knew that she was probably thinking along the same lines, and this was confirmed for him when she whispered. “How does it feel? To be left behind?” Her voice was thick with emotion. If it weren’t so dark, he might have seen tears prick her eyes.

He internally winced, but leveled a scowl at her, a flame she could no longer see returning to his eyes. He bit back the various answers that came to his mouth unbidden: Torturous. Like the hell I deserve. Like I couldn’t fucking breath every second we were separated. Like the relentless stomach-turning fire of panic, vengeance, and loss all at once. Either because those words would make Sakura’s own past feelings painfully corporeal, because none of them were the apology she deserved, or simply because he was a stubborn, prideful Uchiha who couldn’t admit that she had such power over him, he refrained from voicing them. Sasuke stopped those words on his tongue and bit back the confession.

Standing, the Uchiha jumped down off the giant stone jutting from the side of the cave and retreated back down the bank and onto the lake’s surface. “I’ll be back in a moment,” he announced to her “Stay here.”

She exhaled silently to the air around her, but Sasuke heard it regardless, no amount of riotous rushing of the waterfall behind them flooding out the sadness in her sigh. He should have told her his truth. He shouldn’t have held it back regardless of the reasons.

As Sakura waited for Sasuke on the bank, her eyes began to make out just the tiniest pinpricks of light coming somewhere very high above her. Her first thought was that it must be the night sky she was seeing, and as the time passed, it bled into a larger crack across the ceiling, beams of morning light reaching fingers down into the serrated ridge of the clamshell’s mouth, but not able to reach Sakura where she sat looking up at it. She was the pearl at the bottom of the shell that the sun just couldn’t reach no matter how desperately it clawed for her. Even though she couldn’t make out any of the details around her, Sakura was able to follow the jagged edge of the mountain’s opening for what she believed to be about a half-mile sideways before it disappeared into a rocky enclosure. She estimated that the distance between the two halves of the opening were just enough that a very small person might be able to scale down between the walls to find this place. But even if someone had managed to squeeze themselves through the ceiling, Sakura could now see that they would be dangling about thirty-five or more meters before they reached the surface below. It honestly astonished her that Sasuke knew this place so well, but she also understood him to be an individual who traveled to places and dimensions where no other human feet could ever touch.

After about thirty minutes of shivering in the same spot and tapping her feet in frustration at Sasuke’s absence, the annoyance turning to fear as the time lengthened, Sakura stood and began to strip her clothing. Firstly, she removed her headband, the water-saturated, black coat, and pants until she was in her water slicked shirt that hung off her and hit her thighs. Even if the cave was roughly about seventy degrees inside, her drenched clothing was lowering her temperature quickly.

As if sensing her predicament, the universe aligned so that Sasuke arrived at that specific moment, shuffling the rocks behind her announcing his arrival. She immediately sought to cover herself before she realized that he wouldn’t be able to see her anyway in this endless depth.

“Where did you go,” she asked incredulously, continuing to wring and shake out her ditched garments in the peace of blackness.

“Firewood,” he announced emotionlessly seconds before he directed a trivial fire release of flame at his newly assembled pile. Before Sakura could even ask where on earth he managed to find wood down here, light and heat branded the air around them and Sakura gasped at the suddenness of it. The fireball instantly caught the tiny pyre aflame despite how wet the wood must have been, creating a circumference of contrasting brightness in the black.

“What the hell are you doing?” Sasuke seethed after catching sight of her and immediately turned his back on her state of undress. Sakura blushed privately to herself as she turned her back to him.

“You can still get hypothermia in the summer,” she defended as she glanced back over her shoulder at his own drenched body. “I suggest you do the same.” That was the last thing she said before dropping the oversized shirt at her feet. After arranging the clothes to dry out on the ground next to the flames, Sakura settled before the fire, hiding her body behind her knees as she crouched.

She watched as Sasuke’s entire posture grew rigid at her nearness, his spine replacing itself with a rod of steel, and even with his back to her, Sakura recognized the curved shoulder and bowed head mannerisms that revealed he was pinching the bridge of his nose. Sighing, the Uchiha yanked a scroll from his jacket and knelt on one knee as he activated the summoning seals along the parchment, revealing two sets of clothing that materialized instead of the weapons she was expecting. The clothing was thrown forcefully in her direction, and they hit her body in a way that his words weren’t needed to communicate the command.

She was wet and cold and didn’t hesitate. She pulled one of Sasuke’s gray long-sleeve shirts over her shivering frame, never so grateful for a piece of fabric in her life. Trying not to get even the slightest bit elated over the fact that she was wearing one of his shirts like the teenage version of herself might, Sakura stripped herself of her still-wet undergarments before yanking on a loose-fitting pair of his clean black pants.

She watched as Sasuke released a defeated sigh from the other side of the fire and begin to pull his own clothes off, replacing them with his own set of dry clothes. Sakura did her best not to delight in the show, turning her beat red face away to give him some privacy. She mentally berated herself for her perversity. She wasn’t Naruto, Kakashi—or even worse, Jaariya, was she?!

She cleared her throat. “Where did you manage to get firewood?” she asked, desperate to fill the awkwardness.

He sighed as he shuffled on his own pair of pants. “There’s a back entrance. Even more discreet than the way we came in.”

“Won’t the smoke give us away if it’s daylight?”

“No. The fire is small and it’s a long way to the top. The ceiling opens up which will prevent the cavern from filling with smoke, but it’s a long way to the top. It will disperse before it exits.”

“How did you find this place?”

“I’ve looked in every corner of the Land of Fire for any trace of Kaguya or her white Zetsu army. It was the very first thing I did.”

Sakura’s heart panged, knowing he had been so close, sleeping nightly in the Land of Fire during that first year away from home after the War when she longed for him the most, when they had just gotten him back.

When Sasuke turned and walked over to lay out his clothes next to hers, Sakura felt the shift in his mood again. It was remarkable how her body knew his without even an exchange of words or a shared look between each other; Sakura could read every line of him, sometimes written in cursive roundness and sometimes written in sharp jagged, hidden scripts. She had always known every motion that made up Sasuke, even when they were younger. She had known when Sasuke wasn’t fairing well after Orohimaru’s cursemark, Sakura had known when he was in pain, when he was changing and no one else could tell; she had even known him well enough to intercept him as he left Konoha after he had decided on his path of revenge. But more recently, Sakura didn’t realize until now that she had spent the last several months learning and coaxing out new, infrequently used symbols she had never seen until now. Sakura guessed that Sasuke was currently struggling to sort out emotions he wasn’t used to feeling and after what had happened a mere few hours ago, she didn’t know if that was all entirely a good thing.

Sakura’s eyes flicked over to where he stretched out his black cloak with jerky, angry movements, snapping it loudly after wringing the literal life from it. His jaw was tight and Sakura crossed her arms as she scowled, trying to decipher what had him so vexed. Wasn’t she supposed to be the angry one? Hadn’t he interfered in her plans?

“Did Kakashi know?” came Sasuke’s question after he decided to join her by sitting across from her, the small fire offering no protective emotional barrier between them. Sakura frowned more from Sasuke’s question than she did the diminishing fire as it burned, his anger feeling suddenly hotter than any fire ever could.

She leveled him with her own scowl, feeling defensive at the abrupt question, not quite sure what he was inquiring about. “What are you asking—”

He averted his eyes for a moment, before locking them firmly with her own, deciding he didn’t want to miss a fraction of her reaction to his clarifying question. “Did Kakashi know you would be using your body in a brothel for your covert mission?”

Sakura’s mouth fell open. That’s what this is about?! He thought she had gone through with it, being completely committed to her undercover persona as a prostitute in order to gain information. Sakura could certainly see how he, or anyone else for that matter, might connect the dots and make that assumption, but the forthrightness of his interrogation shocked her. She was always so accustomed to his silent brooding.

“Sasuke—” she began, and she leaned forward, trying to immediately assuage his concerns, but he wasn’t going to give her the opportunity. He must have thought she was deflecting, changing the course with an explanation, because his next words cut her off.

“Did he?” he bit out, breathing the words out lowly and urgently. “Answer my question.”

Feeling rushed for an answer, she admitted quickly. “Of course he knew…some of it. He’s the Hokage. I told him what I was planning.”

Sasuke’s face turned white, and he closed his eyes as he inhaled deeply. “I’m going to kill him. I’m going to kill him for letting you run off and do such a thing for the sake of the Leaf Village—or for yourself—it doesn’t matter! You’re one of us. He’s supposed to—”

“It’s not what you’re thinking it is,” she tried, but his questions kept coming.

“How often? How often have you done this type of thing for a mission?”

“You’re misunderstanding—”

He leveled her with his challenging stare again. “Am I? I saw you. I saw you in the memories of that girl. In the lap of that ninja with his hands in your hair.”

Sakura gasped at his confession, not because she was distressed that Sasuke had seen her with Rugo, but knowing that he had actually tracked her to the bathhouse and searched for her in the girls’ memories of her just as she feared he might. It explained how he knew what location she had been planning to go, but Sakura dreaded knowing what else he must have seen in those memories of the brothel she had used as her stage for Act 1 of her plan.

Sakura could see his misinterpretation of her reaction settling into the shadows under his brow line. It darkened his eyes and he raised his chin as he mentally braced himself. He thought her gasp confirmation of all his worst fears.

“What you saw—it wasn’t what you’re thinking—”

“Did you sleep with him?” he breathed the question, not wanting to ask it but needing the truth all the same, desperately. “The man whose clothes you’re wearing.” The words were cold.

“Sasuke!” she shouted, aghast at his bluntness.

“Did you?!” he snapped, the same type of emotion he used when arguing with Naruto now flooding his voice.

“No!” she finally managed to get past him. “I didn’t have to. I have never had to sleep with anyone, nor would I. Not even for a mission.”

His face went into his hands and she felt his audible sigh as Sasuke focused on regaining his emotions, trying so desperately to shove them behind the black wall of granite where he kept them once more. She watched his entire body slacken in relief, surrendering to the exhaustion of chakra-depletion. Had it been his fury that had kept him going until now?

“What you saw was just an unexpected occurrence during the mission,” she bit out, using his temporary silence to get out what she had been trying to say for the last few minutes. “Rugo, the man you saw me with, recognized me, and I had no choice but to play along not to blow my own cover. Choosing that route, I knew I would have to take some calculated risks.”

He was silent, but Sakura sensed the war with himself to say more, ask more, but exactly what she wasn’t sure. She waited. But he bit his lip and looked away.

“I’m a woman. There are always going to be men who try to take advantage of me in that way.”

She saw his jaw set, his teeth clench. She knew he was holding back whatever it was he wanted to say. She saw his eyes land on her stomach, searching for the concealed wound there, and she knew he was recalling the man who had dared to touch her. Self-conscious, Sakura covered the freshly healed scar with a hand over the fabric as if he might be able to see through it.

“Then I will make you untouchable,” came his final reply. Sakura’s skin prickled at the acerbic promise.

“I am already untouchable. I have made myself untouchable. Every predatory touch on my person was calculated, allowed. But nothing will happen that I do not allow.”

Sasuke scoffed, but it was the type of scoff that admitted he could not win the argument. The type of scoff that eased the tension between them.

Sakura stood and stepped around the fire, coming to kneel before him, his glare doing nothing to hold her back. “You’re going to have to trust me. Trust my abilities and trust my decisions,” she said to the Uchiha as she turned to sit down beside him, using her proximity to soften the harshness further. “I can handle myself.”

He sighed in irritation, leaning his head back against a low, darkness-concealed boulder that Sakura hadn’t realized he was perched against until she had come to join him. Again, Sakura was reading him, could tell that his anger with her was being pushed back and categorized in his brain to handle on his own. “Annoying,” he exhaled, and Sakura recognized it as the full-stop he used to end a conversation, to end the argument and concede to her points.

“My turn,” she announced after a moment of de-escalating silence, and Sasuke’s eyes narrowed suspiciously as he rolled his head to the right to look at her.

She plucked up his hesitant right hand and entwined her fingers with his to help with what she was going to say next. He didn’t pull away.

She was recalling his episode in the clearing, the torturous screams of the man who had been ignited with the flames of the Amaterasu. She spoke for him and others like him now, even if he didn’t deserve her representation. But it wasn’t on their behalf that she chose to do so. She recalled his words to her in Konoha after he discovered her collaborative plan with Gaara to be used as bait: ‘If something happened to you, I don’t know who I would become again.’ She loved Sasuke. Cared about Sasuke. She needed to say this for his sake more than anyone’s. She wouldn’t be the person responsible for his moral deterioration.

“I don’t want to become a detriment to you, Sasuke. I don’t want to be what breaks you. Earlier—” she stumbled, casting her eyes down at the narrow space of fire-lit ground between them. “It was all too familiar.”

“I know.” He responded quickly, unwilling to let her give voice to his actions any further. Sakura realized it was an attempt to keep his sins within his own personal head so that neither of them had to bear witness to them a second time. “It’s a part of me. No matter how hard I try to eradicate it, there’s a monster in here.” He brought her hand to his chest. “And we both know what he’s capable of. Even now, I don’t feel regret when I should. I have absolutely no desire to apologize for my actions tonight. But that look on your face is the same expression you looked at me all the times I’ve been lost. I don’t want to see that anymore.”

“You’re not a monster,” she stated as a fact, her focus hung upon that derogatory word. “Naruto and I will not let you be a monster. Even if you were to fall again, we would force you up. We will not let you become lost again.”

“I know,” he breathed, suddenly going very still and gazing at her as if the truth of her words were the only thing allowing him to cling to sanity. “It’s why I can choose you and the world will not pay for it.”

Using their conjoined hands, Sasuke tugged her toward him slowly, his fingers releasing her to find the back of her neck. His fingers were calloused but warm, hooking into the vertebrae of her spine like his fingertips were just another part of her—like they belonged there just as much as her spinal cord or her skin or her hair. She would let him permanently bond them there if only he never stopped touching her.

“Three days ago, you told me you weren’t going anywhere. But you left anyway.” His words were a shared breath between them, so close that Sakura could taste the abandoned shapes of them.

Sakura recalled the moment Sasuke talked about, a broken promise she had given him in their shared sleeping quarters in Sunagakure. A promise she had stamped with a peck on his lips and a promise he had accepted with a rare smile and the decision to brand the promise into her lips more fully.

“I know. I’m sorry,” she whispered, feeling ashamed despite all her reasoning.

“Can I remind you why you said it?” It was a question. And Sakura instantly recalled her reasoning back then: ‘I can finally do this.’ But Sasuke wasn’t going to push her without her consent, and Sakura realized his request was an attempt to give her voice back the power so many women didn’t have, the power that other men would have tried to take from her if she had stayed in that brothel.

Sakura held her breath and nodded, and then his mouth met hers, slowly, carefully, parting them with his own. Sakura didn’t need to be fluent in the script of Sasuke Uchiha—nobody who bore witness to this moment would—in order to grasp the intensity of how he truly felt about her.

When their kissing had evolved, Sasuke had stilled the desperate hand that had slid across his cheek and into his hair. It had been so difficult to once again be the one to halt something that he had started, but Sasuke had to stop. He wouldn’t be able to bring himself to do anything more. Not after what he’d seen tonight. Not after he had watched Sakura in that vision, pirouetted in front of ravenous men like she could be any of theirs to handle, to claim, to devour.

Sasuke couldn’t touch Sakura in the ways he desperately wanted to in this moment, because he couldn’t distinguish the color of his wants from the various shades of cravings of those men. He couldn’t see the difference between himself and them in this instant, because Sasuke had begun to desire her just as feverishly, just as frenziedly. His eyes had lingered over the planes of her body just as theirs had. Sasuke couldn’t erase the words from his mind that were whispered to her as she was being bloodily fondled before his very eyes: “But he won’t mind if I have my fun with you first before he gets here.” And the rage returned at the thought of it and that type of rage would disappoint Sakura. It disappointed himself. He didn’t want to be with her in this way right now feeling how he did. He didn’t want to be able to still feel those emotions as he attempted to smother them with his own desires of her. It would be the same as tangling threads together: a blue cord of worry, a black fiber of icy wrath, the blaring red string of his love for her, the violet twine of possessiveness, a white piercing strand that Sasuke couldn’t identify as need, hunger, or desire… He wouldn’t be able to sort them out in time and touching her with a greedy hand would stamp all those interwoven emotions into his memory forever, and Sasuke didn’t want his memory of such actions with Sakura tainted in his mind.

“What’s wrong,” she asked when he broke their contact just before it had really started, his forehead falling against hers. She misunderstood his labored breathing, hand moving to his forehead. “Are you okay? Is it your Rinnegan?”

The question reminded Sasuke of his weariness. Both of their current states and exhaustions. He always seemed to forget how tired he was when his lips would meet hers. Her breath gave him life. He brought her against him until her chin rested on his right shoulder like a bird returning to its nest, as if her chin belonged to that very spot, and Sasuke buried his face into her neck just to inhale her in. They both smelled damp, like mud and rainwater, but there wasn’t a man alive that had worshiped a scent like Sasuke did now. Because it meant that she was alive, here with him in a cave he had once refuged, not knowing then that he would return to this very spot and hold another person urgently as if the very purpose of his existence was so that he would end up here again, with her.

“Sasuke?” he heard Sakura whisper when he became lost in his silent reverence of her.

“Hn,” he responded in the crook of her neck, not ready to pull back and face her. He was afraid he’d get lost in her liquified green eyes and lose his resolve.

Her delicate fingers came up his neck to touch the black, feathered tips of his hair. “Maybe you should try to get some sleep. I’ll take first watch—”

But Sasuke was already pulling her to the ground next to him, the small fire warm against their skin. He turned Sakura so that she was closer to the heat and Sasuke curled her into himself, trapping her back to his chest. “Only if you sleep, too,” came his response. “No one will be able to find us here.”

Even with her back to him, Sasuke could feel the smile spreading across her face as they lay together, tangled and sleeping, for the very first time. Sasuke felt lucky to be doing so. And as he dozed off beside her, he tried not to think of her in the ways of despicable men, despite how tempting it was to do so with her in this proximity, wearing his clothes as if it were already the after. He buried his nose into her half-dyed hair, frowning at the dulled shade of it. He found her neck instead and inhaled until sleep found him.

. . .

When Sasuke roused sometime later, the lack of her body against his was almost painful despite the novelty of it. As if their bodies where they had lain touching had been sewn together while they slept, and Sakura had risen at some point, unknowingly cleaving the delicately fabricated web between them. Sasuke sucked in a panicked breath, the fire now extinguished and leaving nothing but a consuming blackness that Sasuke desperately tried to adjust his eyes to.

“Sakura,” he rasped, his throat dry from disuse. How long exactly had he been sleeping? Hours? Days? He had no sense of knowing in this submerged world of black that left you feeling as if your soul simply floated in an abyss somewhere free of time and space. Thankfully, his eyes adjusted, and he could make out a few isolated stars puncturing through the craig above. By the lack of the deafening sound of collapsing water, Sasuke assumed that the waterfall had lessened, most of the floodwaters now pooling in the cave and flowing to the exit. Asleep for the day, then, Sasuke concluded.

“Over here,” Sakura calls out, somewhere across the cavern, her voice skipping across the water like a thrown stone. Sasuke couldn’t help but focus more on the distance than the direction. It was much farther than Sasuke would have ever liked it. His panic gave way to a small irritation as her tone seemed absolutely confident and unharmed. Sasuke recalled his irrational fear the last time she had snuck off on her own while they had slept in the forest between Konoha and Suna. And then again in Kaguya’s tower. Sasuke was starting to realize this was an annoying habit of hers. He huffed to himself as he rose to his feet, adorning his now-dry cloak.

“There’s a glow,” she spoke again and Sasuke traced her echo across the river. Some of his chakra had returned and when Sasuke’s feet met the edge of water, he summoned his energy to the bottoms of his feet to walk across the surface to where she stood. “Just over there. Do you see it?”

When Sasuke neared her, the glow she claimed to see began to register in his vision. A distant sphere of blue light somewhere farther down a tunnel. And then Sasuke was remembering the sight he beheld the first and only time he had come here to hunt Kaguya. He had forgotten about it, since he had learned that the natural phenomenon bore no connection to the Otsusuki race.

Reaching out to search for his hand, Sakura asked, “What do you think it is? A jutsu?”

And Sasuke realized in that moment what had caused her to tear away from him in his sleep. Sakura thought they had been found, the faint glow a sign that someone was performing a light release through the tunnel.

Sasuke smirked to himself in the dark, knowing the truth of the light would be a welcome surprise for once. “Come. I’ll show you.”

When they reached the mouth of the cave, Sakura still only saw an indistinct glow coming from an angle farther down the tunnel. It was a vibrant blue-green and it became brighter as she followed Sasuke, clutching desperately at the fingers of his hand, unsure of what they would soon face.

Sasuke rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand to reassure her and Sakura tried not to let the affectionate action distract her. He was surprising her, Sakura admitted to herself, more and more every day, as he slowly let his guard fall, the pretenses drop, the ice melt away for her. She had never slept so contentedly as she had in Sasuke’s embrace, only broken moments ago. Her entire life, she had reached across her bed, her bed roll, the forest ground whenever she woke in the dead of night, fingers searching for the outline of a person who had never really been next to her, but who her heart told her that should be. As if the delusion of her passion was real and existed between the realm of sleep and wakefulness, an imprint belonging to someone from an alternative universe still etched into the space beside her, only available to her in the subconscious. How right it had felt for Sasuke to nestle his nose into the back of her neck, as if Sakura’s very soul had known all along that the lover of her intuition had a face, had a name she already knew and called out for, but that only time separated them for this long.

Rounding the corner, Sakura refocused her thoughts on the illumination and gasped at what she beheld before her. A galaxy worth of stars hung above her, twinkling like distant blue supergiants in an abyss of black. Sakura’s mouth dropped at the spectacle, astounded by the millions of tiny orbs of light splayed beautifully across the onyx walls and tops of the tunnel.

“What are they?” Sakura finally asked, glancing to Sasuke’s face, now alight with the blue-green light, his black eyes a mirroring universe for the pinpricks of fluorescence to glow against.

He smirked and confessed. “I’m not entirely sure you will want to know.”

Because they weren’t stars. Of course, they weren’t, being thousands of feet deep inside a mountain cave made that an impossibility. As Sakura observed them carefully, walking forward on the glimmering water, Sasuke in tow, she began to notice the fidgeting movement of the lights. Thin, sparkling, silk-like strands hung from each light, every star bearing a comet's tail that made them look as if they were shooting up toward a sky they would never reach. It became clear to Sakura suddenly that this was an organism— many living organisms.

“I suspect bioluminescence is at play?” Sakura asked as she immediately assessed the sight with a medic’s mind.

Sasuke nodded in confirmation, and Sakura saw the gleam of approval in his eyes, as if he were impressed that she solved it so swiftly. “When I stumbled upon them the first time, it took me a minute to realize what they were. When I came here searching for the Otsusuki race, they caught my attention at first, but I dismissed them after I realized they were of no relevance. I had forgotten about them until now.”

“How on earth could you forget such a sight?” Sakura questioned him, eyes roaming the ceiling as she paced forward once again, her neck straining to hold her head as she stared. “I’ll think of it every night. When I saw them, I thought of stars. But now when I see stars, I’ll think of them.”

Sasuke rubbed the back of his head, and Sakura could tell he was hesitant to ruin the moment with further details. “It can’t be that bad. Are they insects? I’m a shinobi, Sasuke, and a medic. Such things don’t bother me.”

The Uchiha smirked at her again and Sakura was hopelessly falling for that rogue smirk. She hoped he would do it for her the rest of his life. “Worms,” Sasuke revealed. “Larva, actually. And that’s mucus and excrement hanging from the ceilings.”

Sakura’s mouth dropped, not in disgust, but in absolute awe that there were threads of mucus hanging as long as two feet from the ceiling at a distance she could never reach unless chakra came into play. Sakura’s medical nature had her standing on her toes to look closer. Instinctively, she wanted to take samples, research them, and learn all about the ezymes responsible.

She heard Sasuke’s signature half-laugh, the ejection of air through his nose, the “hmph” resounding in his throat as she appeared to be completely unbothered by the truth of what she was seeing. Sakura didn’t care what it was. It was no less unusual than learning that stars were giant orbs of floating rock and gas giants.

“The light is predatory,” Sasuke informed her again, but Sakura had already guessed as much. “To draw moths and other insects to their flaming blue light. The mucus acts like a spider’s web.”

“Fascinating,” Sakura marveled, grinning and pulling Sasuke closer to further inspect one particular cluster of mucus strands that suspended on a low hanging rock.

“Ironically, like you,” he teased, pulling her back against him as she faced the depthless tunnel, the lights a never-ending trail into the void.

She laughed, elbowing him in the side, “Are you calling me an insect?”

“Insects are annoying,” he goaded, and Sakura realized she would have punched anyone else, but the tongue-in-cheek from his lips was like the saccharine additive she put in kids’ medicine.

She spun around in his arm, sending him a grinning glare. “Don’t make me give you another black eye.”

His smirk turned into a feral smile and the sight of it left Sakura breathless. He was so beautiful. More beautiful than the glowing worms. More beautiful than the cosmos. Who was she kidding? It wouldn’t be the stars or the larva that she thought of each night before she slept. It would be this smile. This moment between them as they lay hidden from the rest of the world, hundreds of feet underground in their own starry space and time.

The air stilled between them as both their smiles fell away. Sakura couldn’t help herself and she knew Sasuke could immediately sense what she was about to say. She would say it again, though, with the stars that existed below a mountain to witness. “I love you,” she breathed, staring into his glass-like eyes. “I want to tell you now, so that every time you see the stars at night without me, you’ll remember.”

And something snapped in Sasuke’s expression, a carefully constructed guard that Sakura didn’t even know was there. Because his mouth was on hers. Gently at first and then so very hungrily. Sakura was surprised at the fervor of the kiss. Like an inevitable collision that they had both anticipated for so long. And he wasn’t stopping. And she wasn’t stopping. Tangling her fingers in his hair as he guided her to the wall where the water turned into shoreline. She hadn’t even known there was a spot high enough out of the water to sit, but Sakura was soon placed upon it and she let out a gasp when Sasuke released her lips to press his open mouth against the throbbing of her pulse in her carotid artery. She bit her lip to hold in the sound she wanted to moan as the heat of his tongue brushed against it, and then further down, until he was peppering kisses along her clavicle. He was moving slowly despite Sakura’s reassuring fist in his hair. It felt like a burnt offering to her body. The most delicious string of fire igniting a path along her skin. She bit her lip harder to stop herself from making the noises she knew would flood from her mouth. And Sasuke realized what she was doing and returned to her mouth, freeing her lip from herself as he pulled it between his own teeth. The sound she had held back until now escaped into his mouth and he swallowed it as if he wanted to taste the sound.

The glowing spectacle around them was forgotten because it paled in comparison to what was finally happening between them, but Sakura tried not to get ahead of herself. Sakura had gotten her hopes up once before, believing their progression would lead to the inevitable, the release of years of sexual tension and pining. But Sasuke had slowed the last time she had hoped, halted their intoxicating, careening fall, just as he was doing now. Kissed once more. Waited. Then just once again more as if he was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to do it again once he regained some control over himself. And then stopped, looking to her face, anxious of her reaction.

“Don’t stop,” she pleaded as he stilled. “Please don’t stop. Just this once.”

“I can’t do this without knowing that if I had just—” he breathes heavily, trying to fumble for the words that had never come to him naturally. “I have to be sure. I need you to be sure. I’ll never forgive myself if this makes you suffer.”

“The only thing making me suffer is you kissing me like that and then stopping.” It was simultaneously a hiss and a plea.

In the glowing dampness of the cave, Sakura could see her words registering in his starry eyes and the smirk playing at the corner of his freshly abrased lips, but he grew serious again before it could spread into something more. “We won’t be able to go back from this. This life you’ll be choosing. If I am your choice—I’m terrified you’ll come to regret it.”

And Sakura realized what he was trying to say. What crossing this line for him would mean. That it wouldn’t be ‘just this once.’ It would mean them. This act would make it impossible for him to deny that they were together, officially. Maybe forever.

“I have already chosen you a thousand times,” Sakura sighed, clutching his cheek with the palm of her hand and bringing their faces closer together. “The only thing I will regret is knowing we were so close, but we chose to stop.” She glances up to the celestial larva above them, and Sasuke follows her gaze. “Even if we spend our lives like orbiting stars, passing one another in the night…The miniscule amount of time I spend next to you will be more than I would want with anyone else.”

Sasuke’s eyes soften. She watches his resolve waver. “I’m not very much like a star, unless black holes count,” he states sarcastically, punctuating his frank admission with the slowest of kisses. The kind that wanted to feel every microscopic inch and relish in every millisecond it took to join their mouths, just in case she changed her mind. Instead, Sakura wanted to tell him that she believed he was her sun, a central point in the glazy that captured her with its immense gravity, a sun that grew warmer as it approached her.

She had said, “Just this once.” And Sasuke had internally flinched at such words because that’s exactly what he was afraid of: their combined inability to leave it at “once.” It was never going to be just once between them and crossing this line would be rolling the snowball down the hill. It would be igniting the bang to the universe of them. Once Sasuke had her, he knew he would crave her forever afterward, and the rest of what came with it: the relationship, the label, a life with her. He would want everything as badly as he had ever wanted revenge or to find the Otsusuki race.

This past month traveling with Sakura, Sasuke had been like a man wandering the desert, starved of water, and following the mirage of a future, seeing it before him in the distance, telling himself he could have it, have her if he only reached out and grabbed it. That he might be able to choose Sakura after all. And that’s what Sasuke had been doing, stepping one foot in front of the other toward the mirage knowing that it could very possibly not turn out to be the reality he hoped for, but wanting it badly all the same.

And now this beautiful mirage was pulling his mouth to hers again, offering to become substantial. To give him a drink of her. And Sasuke knew it was better not to drink, because he was always going to be that man in the desert, unable to grasp an ever-fleeting illusion of happiness. But Sasuke also knew that if he got a taste of her, he would drink and drink and drink and want more, and he would suffer in the desert of his future knowing she was out there, and he couldn’t even see the mirage of her anymore. It was better for him not to even taste her.

But she had gone and said that, the devotion of two celestial bodies orbiting around their common center of mass, reuniting as time allowed them. And Sasuke had decided at this moment that until the time came where their orbits were ripped apart, Sasuke was going to love her, and spend every day waiting for their orbits to align again.

Her fingers pulled at his shirt and lifted it from his skin, and Sasuke sucked in a breath as her fingertips met the coils of his flesh beneath the fabric. He didn’t stop her because like any man wandering the desert of loneliness, stumbling upon the oasis of love and happiness, Sasuke was going to drink because he needed her so badly it physically hurt. And he wasn’t going to be able to stop drinking until he was satiated.

He breathed her in, knowing his resolve was gone. Shuddering with anticipation, Sasuke cupped her knees and pushed her back further along the ridge, following up after her. “We can start with once,” he breathed as he found her mouth again. And like a starved man, he drank.

In between their exploration of one another, their combined sighs and gasps that echoed off the cave walls, Sasuke made loved to her for the first time, both of their first times, ever, but it was such an inconsequential term for what they were experiencing. They both realized they weren’t as inexperienced as they had thought. Sasuke was both amazed and not surprised to find that they were both fast learners, but Sakura was obviously an academic with a complete understanding of anatomy. And Sasuke delighted in discovering the truth of what his instincts led him toward.

“Wait,” he pleaded before it evolves further. “I have to tell you. That I love you. You must already know, but I have to tell you now. Before.”

Tears began to brim her eyelids after he said it. She doesn’t need a further declaration, his worship of her body speaking beyond what words are even capable of.

And as soon as their bodies finally align, joining together, Sasuke thinks faintly somewhere in the back of his mind about orbits aligning and how the wait between orbits would be worth it if they always came together in this way at the end of it. Finally uniting into one solid, burning star. And then, if Sasuke had anything to say about it, their two orbits would fly off their trajectories and collide as they were now. Sasuke didn’t know collisions could be this beautiful. Absolutely nebulas.

“I love you, too,” she breathed into his mouth as they break into a million pieces together.

In the vast cathedral of blue green celestial after, as Sasuke made up for the slow and tender kisses he had skipped for other forms of reverence, he reached behind her to trace between her shoulder blades. The crest, an uchiwa fan had never belonged on any Uchiha’s back the way it did on the woman of his choosing, the woman that Sasuke Uchiha loved.

“What are you doing?” Sakura gasped, the realization of what he was tracing dawning on her. “That symbol—“

“I’m making my vow to you in this underground temple,” he whispers unapologetically, never as sure of any other words he had ever spoken to her before. “I told you what this would mean. That there would be no going back”

Sakura’s green eyes widened, as she lets out a whispered “What?”

He only pulls her closer, not retracting his statement despite her effort to give him a chance to take it all back, to clarify. “How do the words go?”

Sakura breaks into a sob as she buries her tear-streaked face into his neck and murmurs, “I am yours. And you are mine?” He can tell she can’t even believe this promise he was making her to be true. Because she had dreamed of it all her life and now it was happening.

“Those ones.” He leans forward and kisses her softly, suddenly sorry for the relentless pace of their first time. He would make everything up to her, including all his previous wrongs, in all the ways only a lover could, a husband.They had forever, didn’t they, even if it would be few and far between. A life with her was no longer a mirage in the desert. What was the next line? Ah, “Until death,” he announces to the air around them, voices it aloud for her so she will never forget the memory. He rubs the center of her forehead with his thumb. “Good thing that stars take forever to die.”

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